Mild Buffalo Wing Sauce

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/4 cup frank's hot sauce
• 1/4 cup tomato sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon dried ancho chile powder
• salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

1. 1

   In a pan over low heat, melt the butter. You can allow it to brown slightly if you like, it's up to you (slightly browning it gives it a nice flavor), but be careful that it doesn't brown too much or burn.

2. 2

   Add the remaining ingredients and whisk together well.

3. 3

   Simmer for only 3-5 minutes, whisking occasionally - if you do it for longer then the garlic powder will begin to cook and the sauce will separate a bit. If you're going to use the sauce for cooking other ingredients in (such as pouring over wings and baking), that's fine because that's what will happen anyhow, but if you're going to use it for dipping then you'll probably not want to heat it for long. As with any non-commercial butter/hotsauce sauce, the butter *will* separate a bit, that's normal.

4. 4

   Note: I plan to experiment with ways to keep the butter from separating from the sauce, so that I can make up batches and keep it in the refrigerator, so stay tuned!

5. 5

   Re the ancho chile powder: ancho is pretty mild, and the main flavor point you're looking for is smokiness. If you don't have ancho chile powder, you shouldn't substitute it with cayenne or regular chile powder because it won't taste the same. Cayenne will add a lot of heat, as will regular chile powder, and there's plenty of heat already in the Frank's Hot Sauce. If you don't have ancho, you can try smoked spanish paprika. Or if you really feel up to experimentation, you can try a couple drops of Liquid Smoke and regular mild (not hot) paprika or a little chile powder, making sure that you taste it as they're added gradually to get the amount of heat and smokiness you prefer.