Nov 03 2014
McClard’s BBQ is in Hot Springs Arkansas. I saw a short show about the place on TV. Looking them up on the net I read their history and had to try some of their sauce. I ordered a bottle from Amazon; $14 and free shipping. If you buy it from their net site it is $15.95 plus shipping.
I have had the sauce for a while; I was hungry for some ribs and today was a good day to try it out. It was sunny, windy and 58 deg. I had a rack of BB’s from my butcher thawed out. I had a new potato recipe I wanted to try and some corn on the cob I had frozen to test out.
The potato recipe came from Food52. I had a pound of baby gold potatoes, a sweet onion cut in 8 wedges, 4 cloves of garlic cut in half, 3 Tbs. butter softened, 8 sprigs of fresh thyme, coarse sea salt, fresh ground pepper and 2 Tbs. white balsamic vinegar. The recipe called for pearl onions but I couldn’t find any.
I washed, trimmed the ends from the potatoes and cut a few large ones in half. They went into my cast iron chicken friar I had sprayed with olive oil, along with the onions and garlic. I stirred to get the butter spread in even. I added some coarse sea salt, fresh ground pepper and the white balsamic vinegar. I covered the pot and in a 300 deg. oven for two hours; stirring every half hour.
Tasting the McClard’s sauce it was tangy, nice spice taste with a kick and a little sweet. I liked it. My ribs were sprinkled with a little red wine vinegar just to wet and added some Penzey’s Galena St. rub. I covered with plastic wrap and in the fridge for about 3 hours.
I got the ribs on my Traeger at 12:30 for 2 and half hours of smoke at 200 deg. grill level. At 3:00 I brushed both sides with sauce and wrapped in foil; back on meat side down for 2 hours at about 230 deg. grill level. I had the potatoes ready and they went in the oven at 4:00. At 5:00 I unwrapped the ribs, back on the grill meat side up and brushed on some sauce. They were fall apart already so I dropped the heat back some. I did the corn on the cob in my rice cooker.
I served it all at 6:00 tasted great even though the ribs were overdone. I loved the potatoes; wife was not hat crazy about them. My corn was just like from the grocery, a little too mushy but it did have the fresh sweet taste. I really liked the sauce but the wife said a little too hot for her; she can’t stand any heat. I think it would be great on a pulled pork sandwich. I would say the sauce is among the best I have ever tried. If I could buy the sauce cheaper I would be using it a lot but at $14 for 18 oz. I doubt if I will ever buy any more.
They say you can buy it pretty cheap from the restaurant so if you eat there and like it you better stock up.
Smokin Don
