There has seldom been a time in my life when a mason jar of this sauce wasn’t in a corner of my mother or grandmother’s refrigerator. The truth of the matter is, once you have had homemade you will go off the store-bought kind for good.

　　

Ingredients

makes about 6 1/2 cups

　　1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

　　1 onion, preferably Vidalia, very finely chopped

　　2 1/2 cups ketchup

　　2 cups apple cider or distilled white vinegar

　　1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce

　　1/4 cup Dijon mustard

　　2 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar

　　Juice of 2 lemons

　　2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper

　　Coarse salt

　　

Step 1

In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat; add the onions and simmer until soft and melted, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the ketchup, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, brown sugar, lemon juice, and pepper.

　　

Step 2

Bring to a boil, decrease the heat to low, and simmer until the flavors have smoothed and mellowed, at least 10 and up to 30 minutes. Taste and adjust for seasoning with salt and pepper. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It will last for months.

　　From Bon Appétit, Y’all: Recipes and Stories From Three Generations of Southern Cooking, © 2008 by Virginia Willis. Reprinted by permission of Ten Speed Press. Buy the full book from Amazon or Abe Books.