Tuesday's Food Tip: Simple Meat Rubs

You may have noticed a wide variety of "dry rubs" available at grocery stores and specialty food stores lately. These fragrant combinations of herbs and spices add texture, color, and, of course, flavor to everything from steaks to chicken. Sometimes though, the commercial rubs are very salty and many contain MSG, which may give some people a headache. So why not try to make your own dry rubs with whatever herbs and spices you have in your pantry or spice rack?

We grilled steaks last night for a 4th of July dinner with family. I rummaged through my spice rack and came up with the following combination of ingredients for a basic rub which was enough for about 10 steaks.

Basic Steak Rub

1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. paprika
3 tsp. cinnamon
4 tsp. brown sugar
2 tsp. oregano
3 tsp. ground cumin

Combine the ingredients in a large, shallow baking dish. Place one steak in the dish and gently pat it down to coat the bottom side of the meat with the rub. Flip the steak over to coat the other side. Gently rub the mixture into both sides of the meat.

Repeat the process for each steak. Let the steak rest for about an hour or so, coated with the rub, then grill as usual once the steaks are at room temperature. NOTE: Throw away any of the leftover rub that came into contact with the raw meat.

Serving the Steaks: Serve steaks without steak sauce since it will overpower the rub and you will only taste the steak sauce.


OTHER HERBS & SPICES TO TRY IN RUBS:

Marjoram, basil, thyme, rosemary, oregano, lemon pepper, dry mustard, celery salt, red pepper flakes, Chipotle powder, etc. - experiment until you get just the right combination of ingredients for your version of the perfect rub.