Jonathan Monfort, Huntington Beach, knows barbecue sauce.
It’s in his blood.
He attained his grandmother’s secret sauce recipe after promising his reluctant mother that he would put the formula to good use. The sauce is tangy, with a mustard-vinegar kick that isn’t too sweet. It is Carolina style, an alluring flavor that is distinctive to western Kansas.
In June last year his Grandma Izetta’s Kansas City Roadhouse Barbecue Sauce hit the market, an 8-ounce bottle selling for $4.99 at izettabbq.com .
In 1938 his grandmother Izetta started serving the sauce atop ribs, brisket and chicken at her eatery outside Russell, Kansas.
She bought the recipe from the roadhouse’s previous owners for $150, a very sizable sum at the time. Izetta put up her prized German china as collateral.
Monfort’s wife, Lindsley Lowell, primarily uses it on pork ribs and beef ribs, but admits that she loves it on eggs, burgers and french fries.
She marinates ribs in the refrigerator, whether beef or pork, covered with the sauce for up to two days, then bakes them in a 400-degree oven for 60 to 95 minutes; Monfort finishes them off on the grill, slathering them with more sauce in the process.
AND, she uses it in chocolate cake, a cake I call a ‘Texas Sheet Cake.”
CHOCOLATE BBQ SHEET CAKE
Butter for greasing pan
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature, cut into several pieces
1 cup water
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup plain low fat yogurt
1/4 cup Grandma Izetta’s BBQ sauce
FROSTING:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature, cut into several pieces
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon Grandma Izetta’s BBQ sauce
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Optional: 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10-by-15-inch pan with butter.
2. Mix flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in bowl. Set aside
3. Put butter, water and choc chips in medium saucepan and bring just to a boil. Remove from heat. Add melted chocolate mixture to flour mixture. Stir in yogurt and BBQ sauce. Pour into prepared. Bake for 20 minutes.
4. Prepare frosting: In small saucepan on medium-high heat, melt butter, milk and choc chips, stirring frequently. Bring just to a boil and take off stove. Whisk in bbq sauce and vanilla, then powdered sugar stirring until smooth and well blended. Note: If the powdered sugar is not melting, put on stove and turn on low heat and stir for about 15 seconds until melted. Stir in nuts. Pour frosting over warm cake and smooth out so it covers the whole cake.
Source: Lindsley Lowell, Huntington Beach
Lincoln, Lindley and Jonathan’s dog, gives the chow at his house a stamp of approval.
So does wee Winney, the alpha dog.
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