Mustard and Rosemary Barbecue Sauce

Rinse the rosemary sprigs and pat dry. With one hand, hold a sprig at the top end. Run the thumb and index finger of your other hand down the stem to strip off the leaves. Pick any remaining leaves off the stem and discard the stem. Repeat with the remaining rosemary sprigs. On a cutting board, gather the rosemary leaves into a pile. Using a chef’s knife, finely chop the rosemary. You should have about 2 Tbs.

Use a rasp grater or the small grating holes on a box grater-shredder to remove only the colored portion of the peel from the lemons, taking care to avoid the bitter white pith underneath.


Using the chef’s knife, trim off the root end and the tough green top of the green onion. Pull off the thin, transparent outer layer. Thinly slice the white and tender green top.

Place the garlic cloves on the cutting board. Firmly press against the garlic cloves with the flat side of the chef’s knife and pull away and discard the papery skins. Then mince the garlic.

In a nonreactive bowl, whisk together the Dijon mustard, whole-grain mustard, rosemary, lemon zest, green onion, garlic, wine, olive oil, brown sugar and red pepper flakes until combined. Cover and let stand at room temperature for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavors to blend. If you plan to use part of the sauce as a condiment, set some of it aside before you begin basting to avoid cross-contamination.

To store the sauce, transfer it to a covered container and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks. Makes about 1 3/4 cups.

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Mastering Series, Grilling & Barbecuing, by Rick Rodgers (Free Press, 2006).