The Knoll, Lincoln City, OR; Neskowin, OR

After a week off from going to the coast (we were in no mood with the death of Ann's mother Mary on the 26th of August), we got out of the house again, headed west, our destination randomly selected based on photos. I was loafing, scrolling through a Google image search for the coast and I saw some jaw-dropping photographs of Land's End Point. Drilling down, I found that they were taken from a prominence called God's Thumb at High Meadow on a section of beach very close to us on the very northern edge of Lincoln City.

The Knoll, Lincoln City, OR

Information on how to get there on the internet is sketch and now with the relocation of the trail head, misleading. The best that we could find was to drive towards Lincoln City and then head to the beach past the casino on Logan Rd. Arriving at the end of the road where we read that there is a trailhead, we found that all parking had been prohibited. There is probably a trailhead at the end of the road, but there were several possibilities and most of them were posted and the pavement clearly marked as a no-parking zone.

After returning home, I discovered that the trailhead had been relocated out to NE Devil's Lake Blvd, a bit further inland. We passed Devil's Lake Blvd on the way in; it was blockaded for construction, so it would have been a non-starter anyway. I see now that Google Maps has been updated with the new trailhead information. That should teach me not to rely on Maps on my iPhone, always a day late and a dollar short.

In driving out to the end of the road, we had passed the Roads End public parking lot, so we backtracked to it to formulate plan B. Using the trusty GPS on my phone and the All Trails app, I could see that many of the streets intersected the new trail at some point, so we walked across the street and up the dirt Sal La Sea Road into the hills.

It turns out that almost all streets leading up the hill will get you where you want to go, but we didn't know that when we started out. The real trail starts at the end of Port Drive, which we followed back to the truck on our return trip. We could have parked so much closer and saved a couple miles of walking.

I didn't mind the walking, but we are not in the best shape now, thank you COVID, and we really were not expecting a hike, just a nice walk. What we found was a very steep trail. Be forewarned. The walk up to The Knoll is short, but it is no joke steep as you can see from a topo map, rising 500 vertical feet in very short order. But there is nothing like being 500 feet above the ocean, just off the beach, for great views.

We Parked at Roads End State Recreation Site

Our Red Truck, First Vehicle in the Roads End Lot, a Mile Distant

The walk up the dirt road was quiet enough and quickly we entered the trees of a very wooded subdivision. Just before the road takes a sharp left turn up the hill, we intersected a gated fire road. Behind the gate is the trail coming over the hill from the trailhead. From the junction, it is a roadwalk up the hill. We continued left up the hill to the intersection with Port Rd, which quickly terminated at another gate, behind which was trail up to The Knoll.

Purple Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)

One of the more notable things about west-side flora is that you can hardly go without seeing digitalis blooming at all times of the spring, summer, and fall. Though we do see some in the valley on the east side, as soon as we cross over the Coast Range, we start seeing them in abundance on the wetter west side. Among the brilliant fuchsia digitalis, we saw one white one, but no yellow ones. The volunteers in our yard tend to be yellow. 

Invasive Common Holly (Ilex aquifolium)

Just as the trail became really steep, we took a breather break. I saw this little holly on the side of the road, looking for all the world like a common holly. Being new to the Pacific Northwest, I wasn't sure what kind of holly it was so I snapped a photo for later ID. It turns out that it is a common holly and it is a really invasive species out here that people are trying to eradicate.

Rock off Land's End Point

Ann was just about broken by the time we got to the top of the climb and the open space, but after a couple minutes rest, she pushed on. From the top, it is a gentle slope down through field towards the ocean. 

Invasive Tansy Ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris)

The field with its expansive views of the ocean is carpeted this time of year in tansy ragwort, a really beautiful sight to see. Unfortunately and despite it being perhaps the most common wildflower in bloom this time of year, it is poisonous to livestock and there have been many efforts to try to eradicate it.

Looking South Towards Lincoln City

The Knoll is apparently quite the tourist destination. We met couples from Tennessee and from Idaho, the Tennessee duo being on their honeymoon and deciding to head north into Oregon because of the wildfires in California where they planned to go. It is pretty ironic that as I sit here typing, thousands of acres and many square miles of Oregon are on fire, the day is dark with smoke, and the air is acrid and foul smelling and tasting to the point where we have been holed up inside for three days.

Road's End Point

It had been our intention to head over to God's Thumb from The Knoll to have lunch overlooking Road's End Point. It would have been an easy ridge walk followed by an easy descent with a final short climb up the thumb. But, with Annie totally out of gas coming up to the grassy knoll, we decided to save that for a future visit.

Devil's Lake

Devil's Lake sits just inland of the coast, directly east and behind the Wecoma Beach section of north Lincoln City. It famed for being connected to the Pacific Ocean by one of the world's shortest rivers, the D River, at 130 meters long.

Looking East at Coast Range

Scrapping our plans to eat lunch at God's Thumb, we started back down the hill, this time taking Port Rd back instead of Sal La Sea. A few yards down the street, we were admiring the landscaping of a really attractive house overlooking the ocean and speculating about what such a house would cost, when Ann spied a deer on the front porch.

As we were watching the fawn watching us, the owners came around the side of the house and we chatted with them for a couple of minutes. Apparently the fawn is one of a pair born to a doe who learned to frequent their front porch. They named the fawns Pat and Vanna. Apparently, they just come up on the porch and hang out. The fawn was not at all bothered by the four of us standing just feet away.

Pat or Vanna

The walk down the hill was a lot easier than the one coming up and soon we found ourselves back at the truck well before noon.

Neskowin, OR and Proposal Rock

We decided to head up the beach about 15 minutes to Neskowin, walk around, and eat lunch. This is the third time we have been to Neskowin which appears to be a great little village of maybe a couple hundred residents. We took Carter there in 2017 and we took a drive through about a month ago, down Hawk Street past the golf course to the end of the road and back.

We have long wanted to have lunch at the Cafe on Hawk Creek, but either the timing hasn't worked out or they have been closed. They were closed for renovation and expansion the first time; there was no parking on our last visit; this time, we hit on a normally dark day. No worries as I had brought along lunch to have up on God's Thumb.

Proposal Rock Three-Quarters of a Mile Distant

The tide was out and starting to come back in when we arrived, letting us walk right up to Proposal Rock which we had only been able to view from a distance across water before. It's a big pile of basalt, still looking very lava-like, crowned with the usual local fauna.

The Arch on South Side of Proposal Rock

Looking North Alongside Proposal Rock

Our Lunch Spot

After poking about a bit, we sat in the sand and watched the tide coming in as we ate lunch, looking at the very northern end of Proposal Rock. I watched a couple of chipmunks racing across the rocks, tails straight up in the air.

Rockfish and Black Bean Salad

Before we left the house in the morning, I made us a lunch salad of leftover roasted dry-rubbed rockfish, black beans, poblanos, cilantro, red onion, and tomatoes. After trekking up the hill to The Knoll, it was about as delicious as any lunch could be.

The Asters (Symphyotrichum) are in Full Bloom

Invasive Monbretia (Crocosmia x crocosmiiflora) Almost Bloomed Out

One thing that I noticed on our prior trip to Neskowin is that the roads are lined with Crocosmia. Given that they were appearing in places where I know no human planted them, I assumed that they had escaped. This is in fact the case and they are pretty invasive. I've never had any problems, but then, I cut off the seed pods before they can fully form.

False Bindweed (Calystegia silvatica)

Mid-afternoon found us back over the mountains into the valley where the temperatures soared into the upper 80s, making us long for the delightful temperatures and breezes of the oceanside. We're going to have to go back with the express purpose of hiking to God's Thumb. Next time we will be prepared for a hike and will be in better shape.

Chipotle Chicken with Grilled Vegetable Salad

We had a bunch of things in the refrigerator that needed to be eaten and so I set about turning them into a delicious meal. I really succeeded with this grilled dinner of chicken and vegetables. The aim was to keep the fat to a minimum, so I deboned and skinned the chicken thighs. And the grilled vegetables were so tasty on their own that they needed no dressing. The only fat was a touch of pan spray on the vegetables to promote their charring.

Chipotle Chicken with Grilled Vegetable Salad

Chicken Thighs in Chipotle-Lime-Agave Marinade

When I buy chicken thighs, I buy an entire tray of 8 of them. After boning them out, I use the bones and skin to make chicken stock for the refrigerator. I'm always using chicken stock for all kinds of things, at least a quart a week.

These thighs went into a seal-top bag with a chipotle marinade and into the refrigerator for a few hours before grilling. To make the marinade, I blended three chipotles, a tablespoon of chipotle adobo, the juice of one lime, and three tablespoons of agave syrup.

Salad Vegetables, Ready to Cook

For vegetables for the salad, I scavenged the refrigerator and came up with a zucchini, two ears of corn, a big handful of green beans, and five nice Padrón peppers. Add to this a big onion from the pantry. My intent was to grill everything, chop it, and mix it with chipotle-roasted garlic salsa.

Vegetables on the Grill

Once the grill got blazing hot, I started by grilling the vegetables and getting them really charred. Charring gives them great flavor. After the vegetables came off, I put on the chicken. While the chicken was cooking, I assembled the grilled vegetable salad by chopping all the vegetables and slicing the charred corn kernels off the cobs. I mixed the grilled vegetables with a diced tomato and that was it.

With just a touch of salt, the mixed vegetables were so tasty on their own that I scrapped the idea of dressing them with anything. The salad was as delicious as it was beautiful.

Chipotle-Lime-Agave Chicken Grilling

For twenty minutes of prep time, we thoroughly enjoyed a delicious summer dinner that did not heat up the kitchen at all, a great return on my minimal investment of time. This was the first time that I have ever grilled green beans, believe it or not. We love to roast pans of haricots filets; they're a favorite snack, so I knew that grilling green beans would be delicious. Top top it off, a quart and a half of fresh chicken stock in the refrigerator was bonus!

Tinga de Pollo

This COVID quarantine has been difficult and we've been shoving food and beer in our faces like there's no tomorrow, trying to find some comfort. Unfortunately, it is showing and we have to pay the piper. We're officially trying to shed some of the excess blubber before cool weather hits and we are tied indoors for the rainy season. That means that we are trying to make really smart decisions not only about what we are eating, but about portion size.

I'm no fan of chicken breast, but it is a decent high-quality, low-fat protein and Ann likes it or is perhaps more willing to put up with it. I almost would rather not eat than eat chicken breast. One of the ways that I can make this boring cut of meat appeal to me is to smother it in tinga sauce, as tinga de pollo.

Tinga is one of those fundamental Mexican sauces that everyone should know, first because it is so tasty and second because it is so easy to make.

Tinga de Pollo

Tinga de pollo is pretty versatile in that you can use it in many ways: for tacos, enchiladas, tostadas, burritos, and casseroles. This batch is headed for our freezer for meals later in the year. Both tinga and tinga sauce freeze well.

Poached Chicken Breast

To make tinga de pollo, you need shredded chicken, cooked onions, and tinga sauce. How you cook the chicken is up to you. I decided to poach it because Ann wanted some chicken to be cubed for chicken salad. I poached the chicken breasts in water with a little salt, a bay leaf, a sprig of thyme, and a lovage leaf. The slight bit of orange you see in the broth is from when I cleaned some chipotle adobo off of a spoon by swirling it around in the chicken. The resulting chicken stock was so delicious (lovage is magic) that I cooked a pound of lentils in it for dinner.

Shredded Chicken Breast

Two Large Onions Ready to Roast

Ordinarily, when I am making tinga de pollo, I roast the onions under chicken thighs in the oven for maximum flavor. I did not this time in an effort to reduce the fat content. This time I placed the sliced onions, tossed with salt, pepper, and Mexican oregano, in a pan, covered it with foil, and put it in the oven for a half an hour. The onions have plenty of moisture to steam themselves.

Tinga Sauce

Tinga sauce is so easy to make. I mixed half the roasted onions with the shredded chicken and put the other half in the blender along with two 28-ounce cans of diced tomatoes in juice, four chipotles, two big spoons of chipotle adobo, and some salt. After smoothing this out in the blender, I dressed the chicken with some sauce and we put the remaining sauce in the refrigerator to use as salsa on our tacos.

Often after blending, I will recook the sauce in a hot skillet with a bit of oil. This helps the sauce come together. I didn't do it this time to keep the sauce fat free.

I often will have a bit of garlic in my tinga sauce and a bit of cumin. Usually I dust the chicken lightly with cumin or a spice rub before cooking and usually I roast some garlic cloves along with the onions. I did neither in this case. Tinga sauce is flexible and you can flavor it as you desire, but at heart, it is a tomato-chipotle sauce.

If I have to eat boring chicken breast, tinga sauce turns it into something that I actually want to eat and that's a win.

Dry Rub: Fish Tacos

I wrote recently on dry rubs and this post is a continuation of that. Fish tacos are a staple of our diet, being delicious, easy to make, and if done properly, pretty healthy. While a lot of restaurants and taco trucks deep fry their fish for tacos, at home, I prefer to either bake or sauté the fish, after giving the fish a bit of a spice rub. This way they're both tasty and healthy.

The fish we use most often for tacos is decent enough inexpensive rockfish, of which there are a dozen or more species just off our coast here in Oregon. Don't confuse it with Striped Bass which is known as rockfish all through the mid-Atlantic. At other times, we may use Pacific cod.

Our rockfish here is mild and as fish go, edible enough, but not outstandingly flavorful, so I don't mind giving it a good spice rub to give it a flavor boost. If I had access to and could afford more sought after species, I wouldn't be giving them a spice rub and I wouldn't be serving them as tacos.

Fish Tacos with Slaw, Cilantro, and Roasted Garlic-Chipotle Salsa

For fish taco rub, I use a very simple mixture of ground ancho chile, freshly ground cumin, granulated garlic, salt, and Mexican oregano. I don't put any really spicy component in this rub, preferring to bring the heat in a salsa to put over the cooked fish.

Fish Taco Rub

Fish Ready for Oven

Tender Juicy Fish Ready to Make Tacos

After coating the deboned fish fillets in the rub, I put them on a sheet tray in a 350F oven until the fish just firms in the center of the fillets. You can see in the photo how moist they are, yet they flake apart readily.

Delicious, easy, and healthy, fish tacos make a wonderful quick meal that anyone can make at home.

Comfort Food

Wednesday August 26, 2020 was a shitty day, shitty even by the standards of 2020, the year that has redefined the term annus horribilis for most of us, perhaps Queen Elizabeth excepted. On Wednesday afternoon, at 91 years of age after years of health struggles, Ann's mother Mary Chiappetta died of natural causes in the ICU at Arlington Hospital Center in Virginia after a three-week stint on a respirator. Although we expected it, our inability because of COVID to travel from Oregon to be there with her made a bad experience so much more horrible for us, especially for Ann.

We feel grief at her loss, torment at not having been able to say goodbye at the end, and guilt born of not being there for her. Compounding these emotions is the question of how we can possibly in good conscience have a real funeral service to honor her life under these pandemic conditions. The adjective shitty that I used above does not even come close to capturing the depth and rawness of these emotions.

For comfort in horrible times, we turn as so many do to comfort food. Tears streaming down her face and between racking sobs, Ann implored me to cook her something comforting. After some discussion we arrived at pasta, a baked pasta with tiny meatballs. Ultimately, I think Ann was beyond caring what I made, but what is more comforting for a good Italian girl than pasta?

As I was going out the front door to the store to pick up groceries for the next ten days, including supplies for the pasta, Ann yelled after me, "Get beer!" "No shit!" I remember muttering to myself. And so in the fog of a stunned mood, I vaguely recall going to the store pretty much on autopilot to get ingredients: tomatoes, Italian parsley, ziti, ground pork, mozzarella, and ricotta.

Baked Ziti and Meatballs

I won't lie and deny that I bought some really good beer, a couple of craft hazy IPAs, and I also won't deny that cooking interrupted the beer drinking at times. It was just that kind of day. Through the fog of grief and beer, I managed somehow to take some passable photos. I also won't deny that writing this is my way of trying to process and come to grips with the hurt. Here's a quick primer on how to make a baked pasta with meatballs.

Meatball Spices

I've been through making meatballs several times on this blog, so just a refresher here. I always start by mixing the herbs and spices with the liquid ingredients so that they get evenly distributed in the the meat. For a pound of ground meat, I would use one egg, about a tablespoon each of basil and oregano, 3-4 garlic cloves, a teaspoon of Kosher salt, and a large pinch each of black pepper and red pepper flakes. To this, if I am doing restaurant-style meatballs, I'll add a half a cup of heavy cream, but at home, I use chicken stock instead.

Meatball Mix

After mixing the spices well into the liquid ingredients, in goes the meat, in this case ground pork, because pork makes awesome inexpensive meatballs. Veal is amazing, but who can afford it or even find it at the store? I don't care for beef meatballs and so I avoid beef and the so-called meatball mix of a third pork, veal, and beef. I made sure to break the meat apart gently before folding it with my hands into the liquid and spice mixture. Then I asked my trusty assistant to sprinkle in a handful of panko. As I mixed it in, I could feel that it wasn't enough to bind the mixture, so Ann added another handful.

I let the mixture stand for a few minutes before rolling it into small meatballs. This rest period gives the panko time to absorb the liquid and firm up the mixture.

Blender Marinara

While the meat mixture was resting, I made a batch of blender marinara, the easiest sauce ever. Into the blender, I dumped two 28-ounce cans of diced tomatoes in juice, two minced cloves of garlic, a tablespoon of dried basil, and a teaspoon of Kosher salt. Ten seconds of blending and presto!

We never kept marinara on hand at the restaurant, even though parents often ordered it for their kids. It was simple enough to whir it up in the blender on the fly and have it to the table nicely warm, but not screaming hot, within four minutes using par-cooked pasta.

I stressed to all my cooks that time was of the essence because no parent can relax with a hungry child at the table. I always sent the pasta out warm, not hot, so that the kids, who invariably shoved their hands right in the plate, would not burn themselves and so they could eat right away without fretting and fidgeting while their dinner cooled. Then mom and dad could relax over a glass of wine while we cooked their food.

If you will indulge me one more aside apropos of marinara, canned tomatoes is something I am really picky about. I will buy store brand or private label of some vegetables (artichokes, beans, chickpeas, etc.), but I will not risk my tomato-based dishes on generic tomatoes. I am brand loyal with tomatoes because I want consistent product in the can, each time that I open one. Sometimes that does not happen with packer tomatoes.

I want consistently ripe tomatoes without green pieces, cores, and skin, and with a consistent ratio of flesh to juice. Back east at home, I used Cento brand and out here, I have settled on S&W, a Del Monte brand. Yes, they cost more, but I won't risk my food for a few cents. It's not the brand name that matters to me; I care only that each time I open the can, I get the same product as every other can that I have opened.

Raw Meatballs Ready for Oven

Cooked Meatballs

Although you can fry meatballs before braising them in sauce, I'm fairly lazy and just put the raw meatballs into the sauce. These small meatballs took about an hour or so in a moderate oven to braise. Larger meatballs take longer. If you are uncertain about whether the meatballs are done, they should be at an internal temperature of 160F, 165F if they contain poultry.

Partially Cooked Pasta, Italian Parsley

Once the meatballs were done, I par-cooked two pounds of ziti to about two-thirds done, then mixed the drained pasta with fresh Italian parsley, the meatballs, about 3 cups of ricotta, and enough marinara (just shy of a quart, so about a quart leftover) to coat everything. After seasoning with salt and a bit more red pepper flakes, I put the mix into a baking dish and topped it with grated mozzarella.

Ziti Before Topping with Mozzarella

Baked Ziti

The oven was still going from baking the meatballs, so it didn't take too long to get a nice crust on the cheese, perhaps 35-40 minutes. After the baked pasta cooled for the better part of an hour, I sliced it into squares as you see in the very first picture above and we devoured it. For the sake of comfort, we ate far more of the pasta than we should have and drank more beer than we should have. But no regrets: what else to do on the shittiest day of 2020, the year that is proving to be the shittiest of our lives?

RIP Mary Chiappetta. You were sharp as a tack, funny, personable, frugal to a fault, direct, opinionated, not one to be on the wrong side of, and as big a fan of me as I was of you. I was privileged to be your son-in-law. In trying to find humor amidst the at times overwhelming sadness, I hope that wherever you are, there are no turkeys and baby goats on your bed. And may 2020 not become any more horrible.

Tomato Pie

It is that glorious time of the year when tomatoes are coming in fast, juicy, and ripe. And it is now past the point where we have gorged on sufficient tomato sandwiches and BLTS that we no longer feel guilty about using our tomatoes in quantity. We no longer have to ration our tomatoes! And how to celebrate that? Tomato pie!

Annie threw together a really wet focaccia dough and I knocked it down through the day and made this pie from various heirloom tomatoes. First, I thinned out a batch of homemade pesto with olive oil to the point that I could brush it on the dough. Then on went slabs of tomato with plenty of salt, pepper, and grated pecorino. 

It was a fantastic tag-team effort.

Tomato Pie, Ready for the Oven

Tomato Pie, Seconds Before Being Demolished

Dry Rub: Pork Butt and Chicken

June 17, 2023: This post contains an updated recipe for my butt rub. The new recipe yields about four cups of rub, enough for a few pork shoulders. It has a slightly different and better flavor than my original recipe.

I have created a lot of dry rubs in my life and professional career. The impetus to use dry rubs came early on when I frequented a barbecue joint where the smoked chicken was of another planet. I memorized the flavors of the rub on that sinful chicken (I have that kind of flavor-centric mind in that I am blessed to be able to taste a dish and then reproduce it) and carried them with me for many years until I had the ability to smoke first chicken and then turkey for myself.

From that base rub, I have branched out many ways. We made all our own spice mixes at the restaurant. One that stands out was our all-purpose pork and chicken rub, which we always called Butt Rub. Now I see somebody has copyrighted that term. Another is our Cajun rub which we called Magic Dust. Again, I see somebody copyrighted that term. I could have beat them to it!

We made a lot of other spice mixes including garam masala and ras el hanout. And at one point, I had a consulting gig with a food manufacturer to create pastrami and other rubs. That was a lot of fun playing with spices. But in this post, let's talk basics of roasting rubbed chicken and then look at a rub for it.

Dry-Rubbed Chicken, Ready for the Oven

As you see in the photo above, the basic idea for a dry rub is to coat the meat in a spice mix before roasting, grilling, or smoking it. At the restaurant, we used to pour massive amounts of rub over the meat and coat each piece individually. But for small home quantities, I place the meat in a large seal-top bag, add a decent amount of the spice mix to the bag, seal it, and shake it around until all the surfaces of the meat are covered.

Use as much or as little spice as you like. Some people think that a solid coating like this covers up the meat inside. I agree to a point, but our chicken and pork today are so bland that I think the spice helps. Consider also that the spice is only on the outside and that the meat inside the crust is unspiced. But, if I had a great piece of Mangalitsa, Berkshire, or other heirloom-breed pork, I surely would not spice it heavily, if at all. Nor a great fowl.

As for roasting, during my years at the restaurant, I taught all my cooks the art of roasting meat on slabs of onion. I don't remember where I picked up the technique, but the onions keep the meat off the bottom of the pan, give the dish enough moisture to get started steaming away, and then they baste and soften in the delicious fat in the bottom of the pan for hours. The result is something that is so sexy good that we almost never wanted to serve the onions to customers. Almost. The onions most often ended up flavoring and thickening a stock that would become a sauce for the meat. The onions you see above ended up flavoring an incredible white bean soup.

Once the chicken is rubbed and resting on its slabs of onions, I generally cover the pan with aluminum foil and put it in a slow oven to roast. You want to cook the chicken to the point where it is fork tender, but will still hold its shape. This batch took about two hours at 350F. A batch the week before only took 90 minutes. Chicken thighs, because of their fat content, can be roasted uncovered if you prefer to crisp the skin to ultimate goodness. The chicken you see below, I roasted uncovered. Yes, the skin was sinful.

Roasted Chicken, Rice, and Cole Slaw

The pan of chicken thighs (because dark meat rules) gave us a wonderful dinner served with cole slaw and rice, over which we put a little of the pan drippings. That was one fine southern-inspired meal.

The next day, the leftover chicken became chicken tacos, after I picked all the meat off the bones. Whenever I roast meat, I always plan on having leftovers to repurpose in the following days. We sprinkled some of the leftover spice rub onto our tacos and topped them with leftover cole slaw, the same ingredients repurposed in an entirely different form.

I also saved all the bones and skin from picking the taco meat and simmered that with all the roasted onions and defatted juices from roasting the chicken to make a spicy chicken stock. After I removed the bones and skin, the spiced chicken stock and roasted onions made a fabulous soup, when simmered with a couple of cans of white beans, then smoothed out with the immersion blender. That's another tip for you: if you are throwing out bones and so forth without making stock, you are missing out on great flavor.

Butt Rub for Barbecue-Style Chicken or Pork Shoulder

Until recently, I did not have a recipe per se for my pork and chicken rub. When we were making rubs for the restaurant, I would have scalable recipes for the cooks to follow, such as 3 parts salt, 2 parts cayenne, and 1 part ground thyme. Now at home, I just wing the mix, so there is some variation between batches, which is perfectly OK for me and my home cooking.

The key to a good chicken or pork rub is to find a balance between spice, salt, and sweet, with enough complexity to be interesting. Spice is provided by paprika, smoked paprika, cayenne, black pepper, and mustard. Sweet comes from sugar, allspice, nutmeg, coriander, and fennel. Complexity comes from basil, oregano, and garlic. Although many recipes call for brown sugar, I prefer granulated white sugar because it is less moist and the rub runs freely rather than clumping and becoming pasty.

I don't use very many pre-ground spices which is why the recipe below calls for whole spices. Ground spices go off in flavor much faster than whole spices. I highly recommend the Waring Professional Spice Grinder, if you grind a lot of spices. If you don't, you will never recoup the $300 price tag. There are lots of inexpensive grinders that will work although they won't be able to grind the whole batch of spices below in 15 seconds!

The following will yield about four cups of the rub.

Pre-ground spices:

1 cup sweet paprika
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup granulated garlic
3/8 cup Morton's Kosher salt

1/4 cup smoked paprika

1/8 cup coarsely ground black pepper

2 tablespoons ground cayenne pepper

Spices to be ground: 

1/4 cup whole allspice berries

1 whole nutmeg

1/8 cup brown or yellow mustard seeds

1/8 cup cumin seeds

1/8 cup coriander seeds

1/8 cup fennel seeds, ground

1/8 cup dried basil

1/8 cup dried oregano

Place all of the pre-ground spices in a bowl large enough to hold a quart of spice rub. Then grind all of the whole spices (and the basil and oregano leaves) in a spice grinder until smooth and add to the bowl. Mix well.

After mixing, I sample a bit of the mix and adjust it to my liking. Needs more salt, add it. Not spicy enough for you? Add more cayenne. And so forth. Just be careful with the sugar: if you are grilling over direct flame, the sugar quickly goes to caramel and then burns. Some char is delicious; a lot can ruin a perfectly good meal.

Take this as a base recipe and see what you can do.