Ode to Papaw's Sauce

A few months ago during a visit with my parents, my father unleashed a sauce he'd recently made. My kids LOVED it! Papaw used the sauce to coat pork and then grilled it. The kids were begging for more of the sauce for dipping. I have never witnessed a 2.5 year old eat her weight in pork, but I swear it happened during this meal.

So here is the recipe for the sauce:

1 cup balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup ketchup
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan and stir until all the ingredients are incorporated and the mixture is smooth. Simmer over medium heat until reduced by 1/3, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Now this is Papaw's version...I, of course, did things a little differently. I did not have Worcestershire sauce so I substituted red wine vinegar and soy sauce. I also used granulated garlic to avoid fresh garlic bits getting stuck in the nozzle of my BBQ bottle. And another tip, don't scrape the side of the pot as you're reducing your sauce. The crystallized sugar bits will clog your bottle, as well. I suggest straining through a fine sieve before bottling.

We use this on chicken and pork, for grilling and for dipping. My kids are always asking if we have any of Papaw's sauce...thanks Papaw, I love that the kids are thrilled about your cooking but it sure puts me in a bind when I don't have the ingredients to make this. I just bought a Sam's Club-sized bottle of balsamic just for this purpose :)