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I just thought I'd ask what are your favourite spice/herb blends for making rubs and marinades?

I usually just use some oil, lemon juice (sometimes yoghurt), oregano and good old salt and pepper.

Hubby likes things simple but I want to branch out.

Would appreciate some inspiration.

Thanks.

Deb

Personnally I favour 'wet' marinades as opposed to dry rubs. I do like a lot of flavour on meat and fowl. I tend to use oil as a base ingredient as opposed to yoghurt. Reason being that although yoghurt does tenderise and carry flavour well, it does tend to lay quite thick on the meat and as my favourite method of cooking is on the BBQ, I find it tends to burn/char a lot quicker than oil based marinades.

Depending on your personal taste you can use pretty much any herbs/spices. I note that you use lemon juice. Orange juice is very good also, and if you own a zester you can also use orange or lemon zest. It is loaded with a lot more flavour than the juice, and as something that normally gets discarded I find it a superb addition. Orange juice/zest, mustard. honey, oil, salt, pepper (I normally add garlic, but know you are restricted) makes a nice marinade for chicken and pork. I do not normally measure ingredients out for marinades but generally experiment. Provided you don't overdo any of the stronger spices, like mace or nutmeg, they are nice. I always marinate at least 8 hours but like longer, usually 24 hours. I then pat with kitchen roll to remove excess fluid before cooking.
I like to use some of the chinese ingredients and find they go well with pork and chicken. Hoi Sin sauce is a good base, but I believe contains garlic. You could overcome this by using chinese 5 spice powder, soy sauce, salt, sugar/honey, a few bay leaves, dry white wine.. remember that soy is quite salty and adjust the salt in the recipe accordingly. It is a case of trying out amounts of ingredients on small pieces of meat until you attain a favourable result.

Let us know how you get on.

Regards, Paul Kribs

Depends what you're making. One of my favorites is just vinegar and soy sauce marinade for chiken wings.

I get the wings (very inexpensive at the supermarket), and cut them into bits . so you get the wing drumstick, the nibbler bit, and the wing tip (you can discard this, or save for stock). Put all the edible bits into a bag, and pour in half a cup of vinegar (any kind - i use malt), and a quarter cup of soy sauce. Leave to marinate overnight, and then just cook on a medium heat on the BBQ.

Some tips:

You can freeze the chicken with the marinade together in the bag. When you are ready to BBQ, just take the bag out to defrost, and leave it in the marinade until you are ready to cook (less preparation time).

I also like to choose smaller chicken wings as opposed to the monster sized ones. They have more flavour, and more meat. The big wings tend to be all bone.

Aris

I have used a similar marinade using vinegar and soy for chicken wings, but included sugar and finely chopped dry birdseye chillis.. very nice.

Good tip on freezing the meat in the marinade, never would have thought to do it... mind you, the all the grub normally gets eaten.. good tip for a bit of early preparation though.

Regards, Paul Kribs

Yes, I keep 3 or 4 bags of wings in the freezer in waiting. Even if I don't BBQ them, they make a nice quick meal if cooked in the oven under the grill.

Per-peri marinade perfect for chicken :

100g Paprika
2Tbsp Fresh crushed chilli
150ml Olive oil
400ml Dry white wine
Salt and pepper to taste
1Tbsp Fresh crushed garlic
2Tsp Oregano
150ml Groundnut oil
50ml Freshly squeezed lemon juice
50ml Clarified butter

Blend all ingredients until an emulsion is formed.

I tend to freeze the marinade in a plastic container and scoop out spoonfuls as required.

Heather

Thanks for posting the recipe, I will have to give it a go.
I had a spatchcocked chicken marinated in a 'commercial' piri-piri marinall on sunday. Although very nice in it's own right, I found it lacking with no heat from chillis, and it was oil and tomato based.. nice taste though. It also lacked garlic flavour.

Regards, Paul Kribs

Paul,

if its heat you after you could add a couple of drops of "Pure Cap" its Capsasin and vegetable oil. It will not add flavour but will had Heat! Its 500 times hotter than a Jalapeno It will dilute with the oil in the recipe.

If you like to add a little flavour then I reccomend one of the "Daves Insanity " Range. A quick search will find lots of places to buy them.

Heather. "2Tbsp Fresh crushed chilli " is this dried chilli or fresh green/red?

Deer Man

I had a look at one site does quite a range of sauces.
http://www.chilefoundry.co.uk/.

I should imagine that one could easily ruin some perfectly good meat using/misusing the 'Pure Cap'. Some of the other sauces look nice.

Regards, Paul Kribs

Paul,

yes pure cap is certainly not for the faint hearted but for those that like it George Michael this is the one! although it is a cooking ingridient not a condiment like tomato ketchup!

Hi deb

I had the first one on steak at the weekend & really enjoyed it, Wife thought it a bit hot but with a slug of larger you're OK
Cajun Blackened Spice Mix

1 T Paprika
2 1/2 T Salt
1 T Onion powder
1 T Garlic powder
1 T Cayenne pepper
3/4 T White pepper
3/4 T Black pepper
1/2 T Thyme
1/2 T Oregano
1/4 T Sage

Mix all spices together and store in an airtight
jar.

Cajun Dynamite Dust

1/2 C paprika
6 T kosher salt
1/4 C coarsely ground black pepper
3 T basil
3 T fil� powder
2 T garlic powder
2 T dry mustard
2 T onion powder
2 T dried oregano
2 T cayenne (1 T for mild version)
2 T white pepper
2 T dried thyme

Mix all ingredients together. Store in an airtight container
in a cool, dark place.

Regards
Sausagemaker

I'm still waiting for those samples of Franco's dry rubs

AND ME, don't know how they will get here he hasn't asked for any details yet

Deerman,

Re. 2Tbsp fresh crushed chilli, I think I've used dried and fresh in the past, but as it's predominantly a red sauce, I would use red chillies if fresh, rather than green.

Depending on the heat required, you could use different strengths of chillies.

Thanks all for your tips and recipes.

I will certainly be trying out the marinading and freezing technique, easy to have tasty meat when it's time for a shopping trip and the fridge and cupboards are a bit empty. Great idea by the way Aris.

Although I'm grateful to all there is a special thank you to Heather, I've been after a Peri-Peri marinade since eating at a place called Nando's.

BTW I haven't heard from Franco re the Dry Rubs either. Hopefully it'll be soon, before the BBQ season waves goodbye for another year.