Another never-fail-favorite when I have people to feed is ribs cooked in the rotisserie.
Yes, we have a rotisserie on the sailboat.
We've all seen the late night infomercial for Ron Popeil's Showtime Rotisserie Grill..."Just set it and forget it!"
Well, Jeff used to have one and gave it away because he thought it was a ridiculous thing to try to make space for in the small confines of a sailboat.
It only took a short period of time before we both missed it enough to order a new one.
It's just hard to screw anything up in one of these things and everything turns out to be delicious, moist and flavorful.
The secret though is in the rub.
A good rub can be made by just simply sprinkling a nice cut of meat with your basic spices...salt, pepper, onion, and garlic or any one of the myriad of spice blends found at your local grocer.
But, I have developed a rub that is my personal favorite and seems to be good on just about everything I've tried it on beef and pork wise. I haven't tried it on chicken or fish.
It all started when Jeff made the java rub from the book "How to Grill" by Steven Raichlen.
I would take some of his rub and mix it with other things of my choosing.
When the rub ran out, I decided to mix a batch of my own.
I looked at the java rub recipe but I don't like the smell of coriander and couldn't see adding it to my recipe.
So here is approximately what I threw together...now, I usually make a container full and use what I need and save the rest for a later date. So, if you only want one application adjust your amounts accordingly.
And keep in mind that I don't measure...we're mostly just winging it here.
2 packs of Starbucks instant coffee [3.3 grams/each makes a cup]
1 Big heaping tablespoonful [from here on to be known as BS] garlic powder
1 BS onion powder
1 BS parsley flakes
1 BS Hungarian paprika...as if there were any other kind.
1 BS Hershey's Special Dark cocoa
A few generous sprinkles of oregano...flakes or ground or both.
Fresh ground pepper until you arm feels like it might fall off...rest, and then add a bit more.
A dash of cumin
A dash of cayenne pepper...flakes or ground or both.
And now for the secret ingredient...drum roll, please...
A BIG heaping spoonful of beef broth granules. I've used Wyler's or Maggi and both have been fine.
This is the whole reason I keep any other salt to a minimum and is probably the only salt the recipe needs. I have been known to add smoked or hickory salt to the mix. If it gets too salty you can always add more of the other ingredients.
Once you've got everything combined, take a fork and smoosh everything together. This will break up the granules and any herb flakes you might have added.
Now you need to lick a finger and give it a taste.
At this point, you're on your own.
Add more garlic, coffee, chocolate, pepper, salt, or anything else your heart desires...to taste.
When you get it how you like it, seal it up in an airtight container and run down to the store for a slab of meat.
Ribs, brisket, London broil, pork tenderloin, Boston butt...whatever you like to cook.
I like to rub the meat the day before I plan on cooking it.
Wrap it up nice and tight and let it just sit in the fridge.
Then through it on the grill, under the broiler, in the pressure cooker or if your one of the fortunate...skewer it up and "Set it and forget it!"
