These are outdoor grill days. Perfect weather, not too hot (yet), clear skies.

Last week a colleague and I were discussing his recipe for grilling brisket. And that led to several emails back and forth about homemade barbecue sauce. We both make Mango Barbecue Sauce. I wanted to cook barbecue sauce for the upcoming Father’s Day weekend but I needed to save all my mangoes for the grandchildren and I just couldn’t get myself to go back to the supermarket.

But I did have peaches. So I improvised and came up with a mildly spicy, mildly tangy Peach-Whiskey Barbecue Sauce. Used it on chicken, but it would probably work with just about any meat or poultry you might want to grill.

Peach Whiskey Barbecue Sauce

•      4 large ripe peaches
•       1 tablespoon vegetable oil
•       1 medium onion, finely chopped
•       1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
•       1 serrano pepper (or other small cili pepper), deseeded and chopped
•       1 cup ketchup
•       1/4 cup bourbon or rye whiskey
•       3 tablespoons cider vinegar
•       1/4 cup honey
•       1/2 teaspoon chili powder
•       salt to taste

Immerse the peaches in boiling water for 12-15 seconds, drain and rinse under cold water. Peel the peaches and set aside. Heat the vegetable oil in a nonstick saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for one minute. Add the garlic and chili pepper and cook for another minute. Add the peaches, ketchup, whiskey, cider vinegar, honey and chili powder. Stir to blend the ingredients thoroughly. Cook over low-medium heat for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until thickened. Let cool. Puree in a food processor. Taste for seasoning and add salt to taste.

Makes about 2-1/2 cups