Category: Dry rubs and marinades

Sweet Heat Marinade

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Sweet Heat Marinade

  • Servings: 1/2 cup
  • Difficulty: Easy
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At the beginning of the summer I got a late jump on my vegetable garden because I had not been able to build the raised bed due to the weather but here it is the middle of August and it is going gangbusters…. particularly ,the Herbs and Peppers.

With the cornucopia a mere 30 feet from the house is it any wonder that seasoning dinner has become easier?

The herbs and peppers in the picture are the stars of the marinade and they play very well together in this easy recipe.

Cooks Note:  The Pineapple Sage and Sweet Heat peppers may not be easy to find so feel free to substitute.

Here’s how we do this one.

Shopping List:

  • 1 Large Jalapeno
  • 1 Medium Poblano
  • 2 Sweet Heat peppers
  • 2 – 3 tablespoons fresh chopped Thai Basil
  • 1/8 – 1/4 cup fresh chopped Pineapple Sage
  • 4 tablespoons Honey
  • 1/4 cup Canola Oil
  • Juice of half a Lime
  • 2 tablespoons granulated Garlic
  • pinch of Salt and Pepper

Putting it all together:

  1. Seed the peppers. Place all the ingredients except the oil in a food processor and pulse a few times.
  2. With the processor running add the oil in a steady stream until it is mixed thoroughly.
  3. Use imediately or put in an airtight container and store in the fridge.

There you have it another “simple but tasty recipe for the grilling season and beyond.”

Until next time…….

                            Bon Appetit

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All purpose Dry Rub

  • Servings: ”Approx.
  • Difficulty: ”easy”
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All purpose dry rub

They say that “Necessity is the mother of Invention” and so I can only imagine that this was the thought going through the mind of whomever first came up with the idea of using a Dry Rub to flavour their food. Now I know that, historically, salting  and drying different types of foods has been around for centuries and has been very successful in its use but the origin of the dry rub will leave me scratching my head for some time to come.

This particular rub is my go to for beef and pork since I have a slightly different one for chicken and by adding a few other ingredients this one can be used as a Blackening spice, Mexican style spice etc.

Here’s how we do this one.

Shopping list:

  • 3 Tablespoons Seasoned salt
  • 3 Tablespoons Pepper
  • 2 Tablespoons Granulated Garlic
  • 2 Tablespoons Granulate Onion
  • 2 Tablespoons Paprika
  • 3 Tablespoons Dry Parsley flakes
  • 3 Teaspoons Oregano
  • 1 Teaspoon Cumin 

Putting it all together:

  1. Put all ingredients in a non reactive bowl and mix until well incorporated
  2. Store in a container with a tight fitting lid

You can use this dry rub for grilled meats, oven baked meats, stews or whatever you can dream up.

There you have it another “simple but tasty recipe for the grilling season and beyond.”

Until next time………

                       Bon Appetit

 

Shake and Bake

Shake and bake chicken

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
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Every once in a while I ask my darling other, better?, half what we should have for dinner and a lot of the time I get “Oh I don’t know. Whatever you feel like making” and this statement has a habit of driving me bonkers which, in itself, is a short drive but it doesn’t help when I’m looking for a bit of inspiration. This time, however, she came back with a reply that I have not heard in quite some time——– Shake and Bake!

Now I know some of you are thinking…… Shake and Bake?… really? isn’t that rather pedestrian…… My answer is “not really” especially when you think about “simple but tasty recipes for the grilling season and beyond” and what could be simpler than coating a piece of chicken and putting it in the oven to do its thing and what will set this recipe off from the others is TWO things.

1) The Shake and Bake coating is home made rather than store bought which allows you to make a large batch and use only as much as you need and…..

2) This home made recipe excludes the one thing that most other Shake and Bake recipes have in common——- Olive Oil. That’s right, olive oil. When I was researching this recipe that is the one thing I kept stumbling over and while I don’t have an issue of using olive oil I find it hard to wrap my head around the concept of adding oil to a bunch of dry ingredients and using it to coat my chicken thus increasing my chance of wasting the dry coating.

This recipe, then, is going to be a bit different in that I am substituting Buttermilk for the Olive Oil.

Here’s how this one goes…….

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 Cups bread crumbs
  • 2 1/2 Tablespoons chicken dry rub (see rubs and marinades)
  • 2 Tablespoons dry parsley flakes
  • 2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
  • 4 Chicken legs, backs attached
  • 2 to 3 Cups Buttermilk

Putting it all together: 

  • Pre heat your oven to 375 degrees
  • Place the chicken in a large seal able bag and add the buttermilk.
  • Marinade the chicken for at least an hour
  • Put the coating mix in a large seal able bag
  • Remove the chicken from the buttermilk making sure to shake off any excess and toss with the coating mix
  • Repeat until all the chicken has been coated

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Bung the chicken in the oven (I really need to stop talking like Jamie Oliver) for approximately 45 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.

Add you favorite sides and enjoy.

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So there you have it another “simple but tasty recipe for the grilling season and beyond”

Until next time……….

                                    Bon Apettite 

 

 

Chicken marinade

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It seems these days that every kid and his brother ( and I am not restricting that statement to just celebrity chefs or actors) claims to have the “best marinade” for chicken,beef,lamb or whatever. Grocery stores and gourmet shops are even jumping on the bandwagon with their own brand of marinades that they have made for them and with those you take your chances on what ingredients are in them to give them a long shelf life.

While this particular marinade is mine I will not claim that it is the best you have ever tried but I will promise it to be “simple and tasty” and one where you know exactly what ingredients are in it. The simplicity of this marinade is also what makes it stand out because there are only 5 ingredients and they are, for the most part, ingredients you already have in your pantry so here is my take on Chicken Marinade.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Extra Virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves — chopped

2 to 3 tablespoons chopped Sage — I use Pineapple Sage when I can because it adds another flavor element

Salt and Pepper to taste

Putting it together:

In a non reactive bowl mix all the ingredients together

Store in a sealed container until ready to use

So as you can see I kept my promise to keep this recipe “simple but tasty”  not to mention inexpensive to make and this particular marinade can be used on Turkey as well. The other thing to point out is that the longer you leave the marinade the better it will taste since the flavors will have a chance to marry

So there you have it another “simple but tasty recipe for the grilling season and beyond”

 

So until next time…………

                                                            Bon Appetit

 

Chicken Dry Rub

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When I first started to cook I was terrified of straying from the recipe I was following for fear of ruining the dish.

Now my wife wishes I would simply stop experimenting and follow the recipe but I can’t help it— I just love to experiment and this dry rub is the result of my experimenting….  At least for now.

It is such a simple versatile all purpose rub for chicken that I think everyone should have some in their pantry because lets face it in this day and age we can’t always be sure what “other” ingredients will find their way into a store bought pre-packaged rub.

–              2 Tablespoons Dehydrated Parsley

–              1 Tablespoon Cajun Seasoning

–              1 Tablespoon Seasoned Salt

–              2 Tablespoons Dry Mustard

–              1 Tablespoon Ground Coriander

–              1 ½ Tablespoons Smoked Paprika

–              1 ½ Tablespoons Granulated Onion

–              1 Tablespoon Granulated Garlic

–              1 Tablespoon Ground Black Pepper

–             1 ½ Tablespoons dry Tarragon – or fresh if you can find it

Now quite obviously you can take this and add your own twists to it according to your own tastes but if you do I would love to see what you did so I can try it.

Bon Appetit