Jezebel Sauce

If you’ve ever been to a Southern party, you’ve likely met Jezebel sauce, even if nobody told you its name. It’s that glossy amber sauce poured over a brick of cream cheese and scooped up with crackers, sweet as can be right up until the horseradish and mustard sneak up and bite you on the back of the tongue.

The whole thing comes together in about ten minutes with no cooking at all. You just stir peach and apple preserves, pineapple preserves, and orange marmalade together for the fruity sweetness, then beat in dry mustard and prepared horseradish for the heat. That sweet-hot push and pull is the entire point.

Pack it into clean jars and it keeps in the pantry until opened, which makes it a favorite homemade holiday gift. Beyond the cream cheese trick, it’s a knockout glaze or dipping sauce for baked ham, pork roast, or even cocktail meatballs. Make it a few days ahead if you can; the flavors settle and the mustard mellows into something rounder and warmer.

Kitchen Tips

• Adjust the heat to taste. Start with less horseradish and mustard, then build up. Both get more pronounced as the sauce sits.
• Use fresh dry mustard. Old, stale mustard powder loses its sinus-clearing punch.
• Make it a few days ahead. The flavors meld and the sharp edges soften into a rounder heat.
• Refrigerate after opening, where it keeps for weeks.

Variations

• Swap in apricot or fig preserves for a different fruit base.
• Add a spoonful of cracked black pepper or a dash of hot sauce for extra fire.
• Spoon it over goat cheese or brie instead of cream cheese.