The quality of the spice rub you buy is reliant on the quality of the spices, the blend, and the age. Recently we went Kondo on our spice cabinet. The result was a tidy space with no resources when I wanted to assemble a few rubs for our Thanksgiving pork shoulder and half-cocked turkeys. Instead of restocking our spice drawer at the 11th hour I opted to pick up some fun sounding spice blends.
Since I had already pre-salted the shoulder and the bird I searched out spice blends with little or no salt. I found two that were interesting and rolled the dice. When I got to our kitchen I opened them up. I tasted the blends. Both mixes had some pluses and minuses. They were not horrible (see my opening line), I know a glowing endorsement, and I needed to get these massive hunks of meat seasoned. I picked one for the shoulder and one for half the cocked turkey. The second half I figured I'd season with a bit of maple-soy sauce.
Since the meat was pre-salted and air dried I opted to steal the sake seasoning technique to adhere the spices. I doused the shoulder and the turkey with the sake and liberally applied the spice rubs. I brushed the other half of turkey with the maple-soy sauce and returned the bounty to the refrigerator overnight.
What I learned is that if you are going to start from scratch you must actually start. And if you are going to rely on the work of others you must be able to rely on them. I believe our shoulder and birds will be delicious and open my relatively closed mind to new blends and combinations that I might not have explored on own. It is the absence of choice that forced my hand to try something new.
Years Past
Ideas in Food: Great Recipes and Why They Work
Maximum Flavor: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook
Gluten Free Flour Power: Bringing Your Favorite Foods Back to the Table
