Secret Finishing Sauce

When we asked Boston chef Chris Schlesinger for something delicious to serve with local pork (see Farm Life, p. 20), he suggested using this sauce on grilled dishes—anything from grilled pork kebobs to grill-roasted pork loin. But it would also be delicious on a whole grill-roasted chicken or on grilled fish steaks, too. A “finishing sauce,” a term used in barbeque, is a sauce that is brushed on at the end of cooking. Just a minute or two before you are ready to take the meat off the grill, brush this sauce on, let it caramelize a little, and the dish is ready.

1 tsp. ground achiote seed (or you may substitute paprika)
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
2 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
1 Tbs. molasses
1 Tbs. chopped fresh oregano
juice of 1 orange
2 Tbs. fresh lime juice (about 1 lime)
salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste

Combine all the sauce ingredients in a saucepan, bring to a boil, and simmer over low heat for five minutes.
Remove the sauce from the heat. Just before your meat comes off the grill, hit it with your secret sauce.
Any sauce that you don’t use for your barbeque will keep, covered in the refrigerator, for about two weeks.

Recipe by Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby, originally printed in The Thrill of the Grill.

Recipe by Christopher Schlesinger