Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Dry rub for grilled pork or chicken

For a long time, I thought grilling was a guy thing. I think because my dad made such a big production out of firing up the grill. I figured it must be hard or something. Eventually I bought a grill because if I was going to wait around for a man to grill for me, I might wait a long while. If a girl wants something, she really should figure it out on her own. But I digress. Imagine my surprise to find out how easy grilling is. Dad, the gig is up, I'm on to your tricks.

Rifling through my old Cooks' Illustrated mags, I found a very tasty dry rub recipe to put on grilled pork tenderloin, though I would probably even eat a stick if it were covered in these yummy spices.

This recipe makes enough for two pork tenderloins. I bet that would equal four to six chicken breasts (bone-in, skin-on if you are going to grill them):

1 T fennel seeds
1 T cumin seeds (or ground cumin)
1 T coriander seeds (or ground coriander)
1 1/2 t. dry mustard
1 1/2 t. light brown sugar
3/4 t. ground cinnamon
1/4 t. black pepper

Toast the seeds in a dry pan until they turn fragrant (3 to 5 min); Cool, then mix w/ remaining ingredients and grind to a powder in a spice grinder or pestal and mortar or hammer or whatever it takes. I have a coffee bean grinder reserved for this purpose. You can use ground spices if you have them.

Brush whatever meat you choose to grill with olive oil and then sprinkle it generously with the rub. Cook according to whatever your preferred method of grilling is.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I know it's not grilling, but could the same be used with reg. chicken breast on a George Foreman? or some other method of cookery?

K said...

Good question. I'd say give the George Foreman a try. You might also sear the chicken until nicely browned in a skillet with a bit of oil then bake at 400 until done. To see if chicken is done, make a small cut in the thick part of the chicken and press to see if the juices run clear.

Anonymous said...

looks good gonna try it