Grilling Time: Rubs

 

With grilling season in full swing one of the best ways to jazz up your steak, chicken, fish, and pork is with a rub.

I use rubs or marinades 99% of the time when I'm grilling.  I'm all about serving themed, flavorful food and rubs make it easy.  Want southwestern flair?  Got a rub for that!  How about Caribbean? check!  Wanna go Italian?  Piece of cake...

There is a rub out there for every flavor profile you want.  An array of spices and herbs awaits your imagination, begging to be mixed together.

Rubs are mainly dry, but you can also make a wet rub or a paste which works equally well.  Rubs provide intense flavor since you rub it generously into the meat.  The rub adheres to the meat well and forms a nice crust on the meat as it it grilling.

I've brought you some of my favorites in addition to some new ones to try.  I hope you get adventurous with your grilling and try a good rub!

Enjoy!




Cowboy Rub
source: Slice of Southern

1 T paprika
1 T ground coffee
1 T onion powder
1 1/2 t ancho chili powder or regular mild chili powder
1 t smoked salt or regular salt
2 t packed light brown sugar
1 ½ t coarse black pepper
1 ½ t garlic powder
A pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Rub into steak prior to grilling.


Herb Rub (wet rub)
source:  Slice of Southern

1 t dried thyme
1 t dried oregano
1 t dried parsley
¼ t lemon zest
1 t garlic powder
2 t olive oil

Mix together in a bowl. Apply to steak, fish, or chicken.


Terrific 10 BBQ Rub

source: Ladies Home Journal magazine


7 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
5 teaspoons dry mustard
5 teaspoons ground cumin
5 teaspoons chili powder
2 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 1/4 teaspoons celery salt
1 1/4 teaspoons cayenne pepper

Combine all ingredients together in a bowl and rub on steaks, chicken, or pork. Will keep in sealed tight container up to 2 months.


Chili Rub
source:  Slice of Southern
 
2 T coarse salt
1 T Brown Sugar Splenda (or 2 T regular light brown sugar, packed)
1 1/2 T Smoked Chipotle Paprika  (if you can't find this use smoked paprika and add some chipotle powder as well)
1 T Black smoked pepper (or regular black pepper)
1 T garlic powder
1 t dry mustard
1 t cumin
1 t chili powder
1 t dried oregano

Blend all spices together in a bowl.  Use immediately, or cover tightly and store for up to 2 weeks at room temperature.  Makes 1 cup of spice rub.

All Purpose Spice Rubsource: Martha Stewart
Ingredients

1/3 cup coarse salt
1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/4 cup paprika
2 tablespoons ground black pepper
2 tablespoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons dried thyme leaves
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper (optional)

Directions In a small bowl, combine all the ingredients, using your hands to break up the sugar.

Grilled Pork and Nectarine Salad

Do you have a favorite restaurant?

MGG and I visited one of our favorite restaurants a few nights ago and I'm always amazed with the eclectic selection of dishes they have on the menu.  It's a restaurant/micro-brewery with dishes that range in flavors from Mexican, Italian, even Cajun,  They serve everything from steaks, chicken and fish, to tacos and pasta.  All of the food is excellent, and unique in the flavor combinations.  

One of the dishes I love is a salad that they serve with pork medallions and grilled nectarines.  It's such a wonderful blend of pork and fruit, with a slightly sweet dressing, served over a bed of arugula and spinach.

So I thought I'd make my version of this salad at home.  Since it's summertime I decided to grill pork chops instead of making little pork medallions out of pork tenderloin. (too much work!)  I added a wonderful citrus blend I came up with.  I use this so often on all types of meat.  It's fantastic!  I call it California Citrus blend.  Great for chicken, pork, of beef.  The recipe for that is included as well.  

I added a nice spring mix of salad greens as my base and put it all together in a flash.  Another weeknight meal made in under 20 minutes.  Love that!

Hope you try this salad.  It's a tribute of one of my favorite restaurant's dishes,and it's just bursting with flavors.  

Grilled Pork and Nectarine Salad

Serves 4

4 nectarines, rip but a little firm

1 t olive oil

4 pork loin chops

4 t California Citrus blend

Salt & pepper

2 T balsamic vinegar

2 T olive oil

1 bunch spring mix salad greens

Pit nectarines and cut each one into 4 wedges.  Heat large ridged grill pan on medium until hot. Brush nectarine wedges with 1 teaspoon oil. Place nectarine wedges in grill pan and cook about 10 minutes or until charred and tender, turning wedges over once. Transfer to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm.

Sprinkle pork chops with 1 teaspoon each of California Citrus blend and rub in.  Sprinkle with salt & pepper. 

Add pork chops to the grill pan and cook about 10 to 12 minutes or until done (155 degrees) turning over once.

Meanwhile make the dressing: In small bowl, whisk vinegar, 1/8 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, and remaining 2 tablespoons oil until blended.  Remove 1 tablespoon dressing and set aside.

In large bowl, toss spring mix and dressing.  Divide among 4 plates.  Slice each pork chop on an angle against the grain and place on top of the salad.  Add nectarines. Drizzle pork and nectarines with reserved dressing.

California Citrus Blend

2 t lemon peel

2 t orange peel

1 t  minced parsley

1/2 t garlic powder

Mix all ingredients together.  Great on chicken, pork, or beef.



shared with:  Weekend Potluck

Southern Sundays: Cowboy Salad

Welcome to Southern Sundays

A time to sit back and relax, get together with friends and enjoy some good food!

The weather is warm and the grilling was on this weekend!  We decided to enjoy the weather and have dinner outside on the patio.  Lights were glowing, and the heat of the day was starting to cool down.  So what better way to enjoy a nice quiet evening that with a grilled steak salad.  


MGG just loves salad.  I think I've mentioned before that I think he is part rabbit.  I should change his name from MGG to The White Rabbit!  So most salads feel light and dainty or feminine to me.  I wanted to make MGG (aka The White Rabbit) a BIG...BEEFY salad.  A cowboy salad.


I think that may be an oxymoron (cowboy + salad?).  Well, if there ever was a salad that a big strong cowboy would love to eat, it's this one!

You start out with a steak that's spiced with a Cowboy Rub that has a hint of coffee in it, layer on some dark leafy greens mixed with peppery arugula, and bold flavors such as skillet corn, red onion, poblano peppers, and cherry tomatoes. What you end up with is one heck of a Cowboy Salad!


Take a look for yourself...

Needless to say MGG devoured his, and part of mine too!  Now you can choose your favorite steak for this dish however, I recommend a nice flank steak or a restaurant cut sirloin steak.  Both cook nicely and are tender when cut against the grain.  A what goes better with a Cowboy Salad than cornbread?  Woohoo for cornbread.  I just love my mom's southern cornbread.  I'll be sharing that with you soon!

Please treat yourself and your cowboy ( I mean your MAN) to a scrumptious salad.

Cowboy Salad

Serves 4

Cowboy Rub (recipe below)

1 lb restaurant cut sirloin steak or flank steak

1 c fresh corn cut from the cob.  About 2 ears

2 t canola oil

1/3 c red wine

1/3 c balsamic vinegar

1 ½ t sugar

4 c of dark leaf lettuce mixed with arugula

1 medium poblano chile pepper, seeded and thinly sliced

16 cherry tomatoes, halved

¼ of a red onion, thinly sliced

In a small bowl combine all ingredients for Cowboy Rub.  Sprinkle the rub evenly over all sides of the beef; pressing in with your fingers.  Let the meat stand at room temperature for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat a dry large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add corn to hot skillet.  Cook about 5 minutes or until beginning to lightly brown on edges, stirring occasionally.   Transfer to a plate and allow to cool. 

Grill beef on a charcoal or gas grill over medium-high heat.  Cook for 13 to 15 minutes for medium (160 degrees), turning once halfway through cooking.   Transfer beef to a cutting board and allow to stand for 5 minutes.  Thinly slice beef against the grain into long slices.

 

To make the dressing add the red wine, vinegar, and sugar to a skillet. Over medium-high heat bring the mixture to a boil.  Continue to slow boil about 2 minutes or until liquid is reduced to about 1/3 cup. Remove from heat.

Divide leafy greens and arugula mixture among plates.  Top with poblano peppers, tomatoes, red onion, and sliced beef among four dinner plates. Sprinkle corn over the top.  Spoon your dressing over the entire dish.  Serve immediately.  

Cowboy Rub

1 T paprika

1  T ground coffee

1 T onion powder

1 1/2 t ancho chili powder or regular mild chili powder

1 t smoked salt or regular salt

2 t packed light brown sugar

1 ½ t coarse black pepper

1 ½ t garlic powder

A pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)

In a small bowl combine all ingredients.

Southern Sundays

So let's get to the feature of last week's party.  I would like to thank everyone for participating.  It's so good to see all your creative food items! 

We had one entry that drew everyone's attention.    

Congratulations on your featured recipe!

Zucchini Tagliatelle
By Diane of Simple Living with Diane Balch

Congratulations again!  Stop by the creative artist's blog and say "Hi!".  I'm sure she would love to hear from you.

So let's party!  I can't wait to see what you all bring this week.  Make sure to tell all your friends so they can join the party as well!

Guidelines:

Please become a follower by joining my site with Google Friends Connect in the right side bar.
Link back to your specific recipe and not to your main site.
Link back to Southern Sundays either in your post, or grab my Southern Sundays Button located in the right side bar.
Please visit a few of the links in the post and say hello to your fellow bloggers!
Enjoy, have fun, cook lots of food, and relish your Southern Sunday!

Spice Rubbed Pork Chops

Who doesn't love a pork chop?

We grew up eating pork chops.  I can remember mom making them all the time.  A southern thing...eating pork chops.  Mom always chose the thin, bone-in pork chops, so that's what I know best.  We never really ate the thick ones, that's something I'm working on.  Habits are hard to break...


Nice thin pork loin chops and good for you and are a lean white meat.  I usually by mine from Trader Joe's. They have some great thin boneless pork chops that cook up quick and tender.


So the usual way is to fry or saute a pork chop.  They cook really quick since they are thin, and you can have a nice dinner on the table in no time at all.  However, today I wanted to change up my chops and add some more flavor to them.  Typically, like chicken, pork chops don't have much flavor unless you add it.  So I made a nice spice rub to put on them.  No need to marinate, no wasting precious time preparing.  Just mix and cook.  The flavor of the chops were sooo good!


So how nice they came out?  I served these with my Roasted Parmesan Summer Squash.  They went perfect together.  Try them both tonight!

Spice Rubbed Pork Chops


serves 4


1 T oregano
2 T paprika
3/4 t cayenne pepper
1 t chili powder
1/8 t red pepper flakes
1/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper
8 thin cut boneless pork chops
2 T canola oil


In a small bowl combine all your spices (first 7 ingredients).  Mix well.  Rub only one side of each pork chop well with the rub, pressing in to adhere the mixture to the chops.


Add 1 tablespoon of canola oil to a skillet heated over medium high heat.  Add 4 of the pork chops cooking spice side down first.  Cook for 2-3 minutes per side.  Don't overcook thin chops.  Remove to a plate and keep warm.  Add remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and repeat with remaining pork chops.  Serve immediately.

Chili Rub

Everyone getting ready to BBQ or Grill for the 4th of July??

I'm going to do a series of posts of some delishhhhious foods that you can make for the holiday, or just any time this summer.

Let's start off with a Rub. 

A rub is a spice and/or herb mixture.  It's applied to the outside surface of your food before cooking.  They can be used as a dry rub, or a wet rub.  Dry rubs are applied and allowed to sit on the meat, which breaks down the fibers and tenderizes it.  It's great for food that is cooked using direct heat or on food that won't tenderize much.

A wet rub is a dry rub with oil or other fat added to it to create a paste.  Again it's rubbed into and on top of the meat and allowed to sit.

Rubs are very commonly used on meats when grilling or smoking.  They are a great way to add flavor....so try it!

I've made a Chili Rub to go with my pork shoulder for some tasty BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches.  I'll give you the pulled pork sandwich recipe tomorrow!

Rubs are super easy to make, using a variety of spices.  In addition to the BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches, this would be great on grilled or pan fried chicken, pork chops, and steak. 

Start the summer right with a great BBQ and a GREAT RUB!

Chili Rub

2 T coarse salt
1 T Brown Sugar Splenda (or 2 T regular light brown sugar, packed)
1 1/2 T Smoked Chipotle Paprika  (if you can't find this use smoked paprika and add some chipotle powder as well)
1 T Black smoked pepper (or regular black pepper)
1 T garlic powder
1 t dry mustard
1 t cumin
1 t chili powder
1 t dried oregano

Blend all spices together in a bowl.  Use immediately, or cover tightly and store for up to 2 weeks at room temperature.  Makes 1 cup of spice rub.

Source:  Adapted from William-Sonoma