Boozy Bourbon Bacon BBQ Sauce

Sorry, I didn't take a lot of pictures for this recipe because frankly, I wasn't sure it would work.  I mean, on the surface, you figure, "How can I go wrong with Bourbon AND Bacon?" but there's a lot of salt, sweet, spice, and vinegar going on here; so I had to be sure it was good.  It wasn't good.  It was AWESOME!

You Will Need:

• 12oz Thick bacon (uncooked), cut into a small dice
• 1 medium yellow onion (about 1 cup), chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 1 cup ketchup
• 4 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1/3 Cup Worcestershire Sauce
• 1/3 Cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/3 Cup molasses (not Blackstrap)
• 1/3 Cup Bourbon
• 1 cup firmly-packed dark brown sugar
• 4 teaspoons chili powder 
• 2 teaspoon mustard powder
• 1 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
• kosher salt (Just a "pinch" to taste, the bacon brings a lot of sodium)

If you have a helper for this recipe, more power to you.  There are two teams here, the hot team, and the cold team!  You'll save a lot of time if both teams work simultaneously.

The "Hot" team will need a cast iron pan.  In the pan, cook the tiny chopped pieces of bacon over medium-high heat until crisp. Be careful, it will take awhile to get "done," but it will go from "done" to "crispy" in the blink of an eye, so keep and eye on it and stir it around a lot.  Remove it with a slotted spoon and set it aside. Leave the glorious bacon fat in the pan, and add the chopped onion and minced garlic to it while it's still hot!  Drop the heat to medium, and stir the mix until the onions are clear.  Be sure to scrape any remnants of bacon from the pan while stirring.  Announce to the Cold team that you are ready!

The "Cold" team will need a bowl and a whisk.  Mix all of the ingredients above (except for the bacon, onion, and garlic), into a mixing bowl and whisk, whisk, whisk, until it is smoooth and the sugar has dissolved.  When the Hot team is ready, use a silicon spatula to blurp your awesome bowl into the hot pan.  Stir slowly until combined, add reserved bacon, and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens and coats the back of a spoon. (Stir more frequently toward the end as the sauce thickens to prevent scorching.) 

This recipe will taste entirely different after it spends the night in a refrigerator, besides, it's tough to really taste all of the subtleties here, while it's scorching hot so... be patient!