Spice Girls Do It With Rubs

I'm a Spice Girl.  Heh heh heh.  No, I'm not, not even close.  In fact, I am as far from spicy as is humanly possible.  I am in a huge, honking rut.  All my edges are blunted.  My head is in a fog, my brain is on the disconnect setting.  I have fallen into a sinkhole and I can't get up.  I cannot get a damn thing accomplished.  I want to go home and curl up on the couch and fall asleep so I don't have to think about my inability to think.  I bloody HATE when this happens.  My back hurts, this is the freaking fibromyalgia, I just know it is.  I want my doggies.  Damn, this sucks.

And did I mention the hot flashes?  Unrelenting!

I have passed cranky and moved on to crabby.  If this keeps up, by tomorrow I'll be grouchy.  Lord help us all if I get to cantankerous! I am angry with myself and frustrated with Microsoft Outlook and I hate my office cell phone.

The good news is that I was able to eat today.  It's been a long time.

Let's speak briefly about spices.  According to Wikipedia:

A spice is a dried seed, fruit, root, bark, or vegetable substance primarily used for flavoring, coloring or preserving food. Sometimes a spice is used to hide other flavors.

Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are parts of leafy green plants used for flavoring or as a garnish.

Now you know everything you need to know.  Not really, not even close, but you probably already know a lot more about spices and their uses than you think you do, such as how important it is to check them periodically for freshness, to store them away from heat, and how effective they are at enhancing the flavor of almost any food, especially if you can give them time to season the food.  This is especially true of spice blends or spice rubs, which are used like a dry marinade.  Although they are called "spice" blends or rubs, they almost always contain herbs.  A good example is Emeril's Essence.  You can buy it commercially or you can make it yourself.  The recipe is all over the Internet.  I buy it commercially at BJ's Warehouse, as I also buy McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning and Montreal Chicken Seasoning, lemon pepper, garlic salt, seasoned salt, stuff that comes in big shaker jars.  Other rubs and blends I buy in smaller jars, and those I pick up at Publix, including Italian seasoning, herbes d' provence, five spice powder, curry powder, and Goya Sazon.

This is my "old" spice cabinet.  When we moved to the house in Kissimmee, I planned ahead and allotted much more space for spice.

The spice must flow ...

An advantage of keeping a well-stocked spice cabinet is that I can create my own spice blends as needed.  If I find something I really like, such as Bobby Flay's16-spice rub for smoked chicken, or the Jamaican Jolt,  Basic Barbecue Rub, or any number of blends I snag from Steven Raichlan, I make extra to keep in a shaker jar.  

And that is how I came to season these rather gorgeous oxtails with the spice blend I use on lamb.  Plus some more garlic, because we like garlic and garlic likes beef.  And lamb.  And chicken.

The oxtails on the right have been well-seasoned with the dry rub, and I lightly rubbed in the spices.  Afterwards, I wrapped the seasoned oxtails up very well with both plastic wrap and foil, slid them into freezer bags, and popped them into the freezer.

Lamb Chop Dry Rub:
1/4 cup paprika
1/4 cup garlic powder
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons black pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon celery seed
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon cardamom
1 teaspoon dried Valencia orange peel
1 teaspoon dried California lemon peel
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Combine in a shaker jar with a screw top cover, and shake well before each use.  I use this on all different cuts of lamb, especially lamb shanks.  

Another good basic seasoning to keep near the stove is Paula Deen's House Seasoning.  

1 cup salt 
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup garlic powder

I use kosher salt for this, and granulated garlic.  Sometimes I add paprika, which reminds me of the spice blend my mother-in-law always had made up in her kitchen, long before anyone heard of Food Network.  Other times I add some onion powder and white pepper along with the paprika.

My grandmother used to combine the same spices with some corn oil to make a paste, which she then rubbed all over a chicken that was going to be baked or more likely broiled.  Another trick she taught me was to combine the spices with some ketchup (yes, Heinz ketchup) to make a paste for a roast beef.  

Happy New Year, everyone.  

TRAVELBLOG POST #10 - KEEP CALM AND CRUISE ON

KEEP CALM AND CRUISE ON

Today is Saturday, December 13, 2014, a sea day here onboard the Carnival Sunshine, née Carnival Destiny, and we are relaxing on the Ocean Plaza, reading, writing and drinking coffee.  I've got some sock knitting at the ready as well.  Everything is copacetic unless we look out the window, so we have pointedly moved ourselves as far from those starboard windows as possible.

It is also the last day of our cruise, but I am definitely not giving that any thought.  I am going to enjoy every last minute of what has been a truly wonderful, relaxing vacation and I am not going to start worrying about anything coming up at home or in the office.  I've got all day tomorrow to transition my brain.  Today the most serious thing I am going to think about is which pair of socks to knit.

Things we did not do on this cruise:

I did not go to the spa for a massage.  I was afraid that instead of relaxing my muscles, it would wake up my fibromyalgia, which has been quiescent of late, although a few recent twinges have concerned me.  Pain is distracting; no need to tempt fate.  I've got life to live, latkes to fry.

I did not drink even one Cosmopolitan.  My tolerance for alcohol has dropped to practically nothing, and a Cosmo is all alcohol.  It's hard enough to walk on this ship as is.

We did not attend any of the art auctions.  We still haven't hung up all of the art we collected on other trips.

We did not listen to any karaoke.  God is good.

So here we are at Bonsai for lunch - Japanese rap music and those are indeed two ladies wearing bathrobes to eat sushi.  I ordered the Wagyu Kakuni appetizer for my lunch and I positively swooned.  Those were among the two best bites of food I have had in my life, ever.  Who knew it came with a small salad?  An awesome salad  with Korean flavors of sesame and soy. The ultra-tender Wagyu (American Kobe beef), having been slow-braised, and redolent of sweet Korean teriyaki, could convert any vegetarian to a carnivore.

As this special day winds down, it's been all about the food.  For breakfast we went to the omelet bar instead of the regular buffet.  Then the lunch at Bonsai.  After lunch we do some more shopping.  We watch TV, Rob reads, I peruse recipes in my new cookbook, I knit a little, I sip some wine.  We go to another tea party at 3:00, where the pastries are superb.  I keep reviewing recipes in the cookbook.  So many recipes I want to try - this cookbook is a treasure trove.  Leaving the tea party, we stop to check the menu for tonight's dinner.  We discuss whether the frog's legs appetizer will be prepared as badly as last night's oysters.  I remind Rob that they did a fine job on the escargot.  We go upstairs to check the menus at Ji Ji Kitchen and El Capitano.  Finally the decision is made, it's the main dining room.  Besides, they have the Grand Marnier soufflé for dessert.

Amazing what you can accomplish when you are in the middle of the ocean and happily cut off from the internet and wifi.  And tomorrow will be time enough to start moving back into the real world of ISIS, the protests over police brutality, the school shootings, the Bill Cosby scandal, and the closing argument I have to make on Monday afternoon.

Tomorrow morning, we will self-disembark at 7:30, a privilege afforded to platinum level cruisers.  It has been the best cruise, marred only by the constant rocking, and those damn oysters Rockefeller.

The food tonight was wonderful.  Before dinner, we saw another live music show - the third one, all different, all terrific.  At dinner, Rob ordered the frog's legs while I got the crab cake.  Awesome good.  Then we both went beef, prime rib for me, flatiron steak for Rob.  Soufflé for dessert.  Everything was delicious.

As I said, this was our 12th cruise on Carnival, across six different ships, including the brand-new Carnival Dream.  This was the best ship with the best cruise director. And I had the best time.

I hope you enjoyed the travelblog.  We will return to our regular scheduled cooking program tomorrow.  A new series, Six Degrees of Separation and Consanguinity, will be starting for the New Year.  Stay tuned, stay safe, stay happy and healthy.


Additional photos:

Mistress Crankypants - Creamy Peanut Butter Frosting

Ich bin verschroben.  Just a touch.  I have to schedule an appointment with the dentist, and that always skews my chi in the wrong direction.  I am glad to be back at my desk.  I know, I'm weird.  I am thrilled that the DCF Help Desk helped me to access my email, which was in suspended animation for several weeks after being migrated to a new domain.  The downside was that I had 29 pages of email to open and review.  That's 580 messages, in case you are counting.

So cranky I remain.  My back still hurts, a little reminder that I do not control the fibromyalgia, the fibromyalgia controls me.  The world and national news is bad, very bad.  Two police officers were ambushed in Los Angeles, fortunately no casualties, but shots were fired at them.  Two police officers were fired at in Pasco County here in Florida.  I guess it's now open season on cops.  (Are you happy, Al Sharpton?)  A case of Ebola has been confirmed in Scotland, and the Ebola cases in Sierra Leone and a few other African countries continue to rise in number.

It has been a full day since the Indonesian Airbus disappeared from the radar, and its whereabouts remain unknown (Update: debris has been found.  What a terrible word, debris).  And we know all too well what that means.  Heartbreak, agony, accusations, blaming,  unbearable emotional turmoil,  media frenzy, speculation, finger-pointing, character assassinations, management resignations, mass grieving, and multiple lawsuits.  And no proper funerals, because ... well, because.  For the families, that has to be the worst part.  God give them strength.

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Yesterday I finished the triple chocolate cupcakes by adding a swirl of peanut butter frosting to each one.  Now I know the Cake Mix Doctor has stated that there is no way to fix up a tub of prepared frosting, but I respectfully beg to differ.  This was so good, I surprised myself.  I suspect that in the years since she published her first book, the product itself has been improved.  Whatever the reason, I highly recommend trying this awesome but easy peanut butter frosting.

1 - 16 oz. tub creamy vanilla frosting
1/3 cup smooth peanut butter
2-3 tablespoons half and half

Stir everything together by hand until completely blended and smooth, about 1 minute.  Frost the completely cooled cupcakes using your favorite method (spoon it, smooth it, dip it, pipe it).  I used a large star tip, and instead of a pastry bag, I used a plastic freezer bag, snipping off just a small bit of one corner to make an opening for the tip.

If you want to pile the frosting nice and high on the cupcakes, double the frosting recipe.

These were very well-received by my office peeps, and that is always gratifying to hear.  Even I ate a cupcake.  Chocolate, peanut butter, and a nice cuppa coffee.  Took care of the crankiness, and once I threw two Advil into the mix, even my back felt better.

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I want to wish my baby brother-in-law a very Happy Birthday.  When I first met him in 1972, he was just a kid, a senior in high school.  Now retired, recognized as highly accomplished, successful, and well-respected in his field, he is making a significant life change by pursuing an advanced degree in another discipline, all while being a great dad to three spectacular young adults.  Happy birthday, Kenny!  I know there is an angel in heaven watching after you and wishing you the same.