With Father’s Day and the Hog Heaven BBQ at the Beach Championship Cookoff coming up, ribmeisters and novices alike are stoking those fires for some great barbecue.

The rub is where it’s at when it comes to barbecue, but the sauce isn’t far behind.

David Easterling of Gulfport, Miss., is one who is working hard at perfecting his sauce. He’s been working on his own barbecue sauce for about three years and is just about ready with Daddy Dave’s Grill and Glazing Sauce. Just when he thinks he’s finished, he starts tinkering with the sauce again.

“I think I want to increase the vinegar,” Easterling said after sharing his recipe with me. “I always add more vinegar at cooking time, so I think this is best to just simmer in before bottling. The increase in vinegar content also will help ensure the sauce is stable for the pantry.”

After experimenting, Easterling decided to stick with his original recipe.

“I am back to thinking this is the perfect balance,” he said. “You can add a little vinegar at grilling time for more tartness.

“This sauce is intended to compliment grilled delicacies such as chicken, chops, ribs, sausages, etc. without leaving a thick sweet sauce on the goodies,” Easterling said. “I use recycled wine bottles for the special sauce. The sauce is fine stored in the pantry for the grilling season.”

He and friend Jack McDonald also have been using a lot of vinegar making a red radish and red onion relish. McDonald provided the radishes from his garden and the recipe for them to can. Perhaps the duo will share that recipe, too. They will have to take this relish to the Long Beach Farmers’ Market Radish Festival, which is being planned for Nov. 5.

Here’s Easterling’s recipe. Readers, feel free to send your favorite barbecue sauce or rub recipes; after all, it ’tis the season.

Daddy dave’s grill & glazing sauce

q 1 gallon can tomato sauce

q 1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar

q 1/2 cup cane syrup

q 1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce

q 1 cup white vinegar

q 1/3 cup sour mash whiskey (optional, of course )

q 1 tablespoon garlic powder

q 1 tablespoon onion powder

q 1 tablespoon chili powder

q 1 tablespoon paprika

q 1/2 tablespoon black pepper

q 1/2 tablespoon red pepper

q 1/2 tablespoon Creole seasoning

q 1/2 tablespoon salt

q 1/2 tablespoon Tabasco sauce

n Simmer tomato sauce 5 minutes, add brown sugar and cane syrup, whisk and simmer on low 10 minutes.

n Add dry seasonings, Worcestershire and Tabasco, simmer on low 5 minutes. Add vinegar and whiskey; simmer on low 5 minutes. Funnel, cool and cork sauce in bottles. Yield: 4-5 bottles Technique

“I prefer to dry rub seasoning on my grilling pieces and slow cook them until they are almost ready, dredge the pieces in the sauce and return to slow heat or smoke the last 5-10 minutes. Happy grilling!”

-- Submitted by David Easterling

Cornbread salad for those barbecues

Cornbread salad adds a different twist from potato salad for those barbecues. Lillian Lott asked for a recipe the salad, and readers have responded big time. Some of the recipes are similar, but add or subtract ingredients.

“I love this recipe,” said Donna Cuevas of Gulfport. “I am making it for a get-together at my mother’s. It is so yummy. If I am making it for a large group of people, I like to make min in a trifle bowl for a pretty presentation.”

Patty Caranna of Biloxi makes this salad, but she adds 2 chopped hard-boiled eggs and uses only two tomatoes and no sweet pickles.

Cornbread salad

q 1 box Jiffy cornbread mix (backed to directions on box)

q 3 cups fresh chopped tomatoes

q 1 cup chopped green bell pepper

q 1 cup chopped red onion

q 12 sliced cooked and crumbled bacon

q 1/2 cup chopped sweet pickles (save the juice, about 1/2-3/4 cup)

q 1 cup mayonnaise and saved pickle juice

n Crumble 1/2 cornbread in bottom of 8-by-8-inch square casserole dish. In another bowl, add mayonnaise and pickle juice and mix until smooth. Add tomatoes, pepper, onions, pickles and bacon. Add 1/2 of mixture over cornbread and repeat with remaining 1/2 of cornbread. Cover and chill overnight. Serves 6-8 people.

-- Submitted by Donna Cuevas

French dressing

Diane Ingram of Palmetto, wanted a recipe for a tomato-based French dressing like she remembered having as a teen in New Jersey. Coastian Cherry Hall, who often contributes to this column, has one for her to try.

“Here is a French dressing recipe from ‘The Jackson Cookbook,’ published by the Symphony League of Jackson (MS) in 1971,” said Hall. “It is very good. It is credited to Mrs. Gladys Adams Seely when she was a hostess at the Governor’s Mansion.”

Yankee French dressing

q 1 can cream of tomato soup

q 1 cup olive oil or Wesson oil

q 3/4 cup apple cider vinegar

q 3 tablespoons sugar

q 1 1/2 tablespoons salt

q 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

q 1 teaspoon paprika

q 1 teaspoon black pepper

q 1 teaspoon Coleman’s dry mustard

q 1 small onion, grated

q 1 small clove of garlic, minced

n Put in a quart jar in order given and mix thoroughly. Keeps well in the refrigerator for days.

-- Submitted by Cherry Hall

Tomato gravy

“Reading your column with recipes for tomato casseroles, I was reminded of one of our family’s recipes: tomato gravy,” said Myra Jones of Bradenton. “My mother’s family (Florida natives since early 1800s) always served grits with fish, and almost always made tomato gravy to go on the grits. I supposed it served the same purpose as lemon with fish, the acid would dissolve any small fishbone that might have been eaten accidentally. We sometimes served the gravy over rice, too. Anyhow it’s easy.”

Tomato gravy

q Chopped onion (1/4 cup or to taste)

q 1-2 tablespoons oil

q 1-2 tablespoons flour

q 1 28-ounce can tomatoes, chopped

q Pinch of sugar, if desired

q Salt and pepper

n If tomatoes are not very liquid, add a 6-ounce can of tomato juice or vegetable juice.

Saute the onions in the oil. When they become translucent, sprinkle the flour over them and stir. Add tomatoes (and liquid), stirring until the gravy thickens. Add salt, pepper and sugar to taste, if desired. I prefer to do without the sugar. Serve on your grits or rice.

Variation:

“My sister cooks bacon and uses bacon grease for the oil, and she does not thicken the mix with flour. Then she adds the crisp bacon bits into the gravy,” said Jones. “In the old days, both tomatoes and fish were usually caught/picked, not purchased, and the fish was always fried!”

Cake that makes its own frosting

Jayne Trahan of Navarre, wants a recipe for a cake that makes its own frosting.

“I don’t think it is a Bisquick cake, but a regular cake,” she said. “But makes its own frosting as it bakes and has brown sugar and nuts in it.

Andrea Yeager, can be reached at ayeager51@cableone.net. Send contributions or requests to Cook’s Exchange, P.O. Box 4567, Biloxi MS 39535-4567.

I

f requesting a recipe, include the name or describe it.