My parents gave us a spice rub from Costco about a year ago and to be honest, I just gave it away. It was very salty and the spices were, well, boring. It had pepper and something red - probably paprika - but no oomph, nothing to blow your skirt up.
Not so with this spice rub. The salt is but a minor player in this recipe, singing back-up to the Aretha, Mariah, and Christina of the spice world: pepper, chili powder, and cinnamon.
When I first made this recipe, it was because I had all the ingredients. This time I had to go get many of the spices. Rather than buy bottles of spices, which would make this ridiculously expensive, head for a grocery store that sells bulk spices (Fred Meyer has these) and get just what you need.
In a bowl, mix together the following:
1/4 cup kosher salt
2 T coarsely ground pepper
1 T ground coriander
3 T ground cumin
2 T each: paprika, dried thyme, *chili powder (see update below re: chili powder)
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 t ground cinnamon
This is what it looks like. I wish you could smell it.
The sugar caramelizes on the meat as it cooks and the spices blacken. It's spicy but oh-so-good!
The recipe suggests these marinating times:
- shrimp/scallops - 15 mins
- chicken breats & thighs - 30-60 mins
- beef & lamb - 60 mins
- pork chops & tenderloin - 45-60 mins
And anytime you're marinating over an hour, put it into the fridge.
**UPDATE**
My neighbor told me that the 2nd batch of rub didn't have the same kick as the first one. I may have used cayenne pepper instead of chili powder. Make it per the recipe & add some cayenne if you want it spicier.
I'm bookmarking this so I can come back to it later. It looks and sounds delicious.
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