Beer BBQ Sauce

One of the first recipes I ever used to make something was BBQ sauce. It was from a Betty Crocker cookbook my grandparents gave us in a care package while we were stationed in Ft. Bliss, TX. Being a young, enlisted couple we didn't get out much at all. Getting a box full of dry goods and a cookbook was great. My grandparents were once a young army family and they knew what would be useful for us, they were very practical. Oh, I gotta write about the time I was trying to use the book to make biscuits but I read the recipe wrong. We didn't eat biscuits that night.

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Fast-forward to the present time and we're still cooking! It's actually been a while since I made BBQ sauce but it's the first that popped into my head when I was asked to submit a recipe to the latest HR Growler. The theme was "Summertime", grilling! Who doesn't love to cookout over the summer. Fire-up the grill, open a good beer and take in the experience.

I wanted my sauce to have a little heat and, of course, beer! I made four different recipes before settling on a delicious, balanced sauce that goes great with chicken and pork. Just about any beer will work, I liked the Blue Mountain Brewery A Hopwork Orange and the Enjoy By 4.20 by Stone Brewing Co., stouts would work well too. Try it out, mix it up, add or remove what you like.

Go to HR Growler for the recipe, here's the link.

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Clams in Butter & Wine Sauce

After having something similar in an area restaurant I wanted to try my hand at a butter/wine sauce for clams. It came out great and the sauce is delicious with crusty bread. Here's what you need:

• 1 stick of Butter
• 1 cup of white wine
• 1 cup clam stock
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup of cream
• 3 tablespoons chopped Parsley
• 1 small Lemon
• Zest from the lemon
• 1/2 an medium onion
• 1/2 lb Bacon, cooked soft, roughly chopped
• 3-5 lbs of Little Neck Clams

Pepper to taste (the clam liquor will be salty enough)

To get the cup of clam liquor you need for this, you'll get from the clams you cook. It's easy:

1. Fill a stock pot with about half an inch of wine and then place the steamer and clams in. Turn to high and cover, steam for 15 minutes. You'll know they're done when they open. Discard any clams still closed after steaming.
2. You should have a couple of cups of clam stock in the bottom of the pot. Don't throw it out! Freeze what you don't use in the recipe for later.

To make the sauce:

1. Heat a large sauce pan to medium-high, place butter in pan.
2. Add garlic and onion and saute till translucent, about 4 minutes.
3. Add chicken stock, wine and clam stock. Switch heat to High until boiling, then reduce to medium. Simmer and reduce for approximately 20 minutes or until reduced to close half volume. (At this point you can serve it at whatever consistency you like, add a tiny bit of flour if you want it thicker.)
4. After reducing liquid add heavy cream, lemon zest and lemon juice. Simmer for 15 minutes, stir regularly.
5. Add parsley, stir and remove from heat.
6. Place clams in large bowl and sprinkle the bacon on top. Then pour the sauce all over the clams.
7. Serve and eat with bread!

Tip: To cut back on salt, use a bacon or ham that isn't as salty.