The Well Done Chef’s BBQ Chicken Spice

A while back, I gave you a recipe for chicken spice rub. It is time to update the recipe for two reasons: make it into a ratio, and suitable for a diabetic.

You can make this mixture from the spices I told you should be in your cupboard, with a few extras. They are definitely worth the extra expense; this will be your go-to chicken rub.

The recipe starts with an idea from a fantastic post I saw a week back on roasted lemon zest. I was so impressed with it, I decided to add it to the spice. (It is totally optional, the recipe will work without it.)

Since it takes the longest to complete, we will start off with those steps.

Here is what you do:

Peel off the skin of the lemon, taking care to leave the white pith.

Remove the skins of the lemon with your vegetable peeler, taking care to leave the white pith behind. This is important, because the pith tastes bitter. Trust me, it is like accidentally eating a thyroid pill. Disgusting!

You will want to roast them in a moderately hot oven. The original instructions say to place them in an oven that is pre-heating. I found that a 250°F oven is the best way to go. You will want to take them out about half way to give them a little stir for even roasting.

Give the zest a little stir for even roasting.

The entire process will take about 30 minutes. Don’t let them get too dark, or the flavor will be bitter.

There, they are nice and roasted now. The smell intoxicates - a citrusy aroma with some darker undertones

Let the peels cool for a bit.

Look at the nice clean grinder!

Grind the cooled zest with a clean spice grinder.

Next up, dry-toast your cumin seeds. You do this by setting your pan over a medium flame, add your seeds, and shake the pan until you can smell the earthy scents from the cumin.

The shot is a bit blurry, because this is an action shot!

I always set the cumin seeds into another cold pan to arrest the cooking. Otherwise, the seeds will continue to cook and become bitter. If I do that at home, my wife gets upset (about using too many dishes,) but losing your cumin from overcooking is never good.

Once the cumin seeds are cooled, add them to your spice grinder with the celery seeds. Grind them until they are a powder.

Sometimes you gotta McGyver something to make it work.

A quick aside: you may have heard about System D. This is a great example of that term. Equipment has a short life in professional kitchens, especially spice grinders that are not meant for commercial use. This one is missing its button. No matter – nothing a bamboo skewer can’t solve. Dangerous? Sure. Necessary? Absolutely!

All the spices are here, except for one I forgot to lay out. Doh!

Here you can see all the spices I have in this mix. I forgot to put one in there in my haste to take this picture. Can you guess which one is missing?

Mix the spices together, get ready to test!

Shake  the spices together. It is not really necessary to lay out all the spices like I did in the last picture, unless you are taking an explanatory photograph. (Unless you are anal of course… but that is a topic for another day!)

The most important part of the post comes with the test. How does our spice hold up?

Place about a tablespoon of olive oil on the chicken

I had some chicken tenders left over, and it was getting close to lunchtime. What better way to test the new spice mix than over a salad?

Rub some olive oil on the chicken, then sprinkle the spice rub generously over the chicken:

Massage the spice throughout the chicken

Roast (or grill) in a 400°F oven for 10 minutes. It should look like so:

Let the chicken rest, or they will be chunks of leather!

After a short rest, the chicken went on usual lunch salad I made.

After tasting, I discovered that the mix was a bit too spicy. I reviewed my steps, and found that I did not put the regular paprika in. I fixed it, tested again, and the spiciness was just right. That is why it is so important to taste while you go.

Putting it all together:

This recipe below is a ratio by volume, so you can substitute a part for a cup, or a half cup, or an ounce if you like. Just replace the word “part” with your base volume measurement (cup, tablespoon, or something like it.) I won’t give the recipe for the chicken today, as it really was just for a test.

WDC’s BBQ Chicken Spice

Ingredients:

• 2 parts smoked paprika
• 1 part paprika
• 1 part Splenda or stevia powder
• 1/2 part black pepper, freshly ground
• 1/2 part cumin seeds, dry toasted
• 1/2 part celery seeds
• 1/2 part kosher salt
• 1/2 part garlic powder
• 1/16 part chili powder
• optional: 1/2 part roasted lemon peel, ground

Method:

1. Peel lemon zest strips with a peeler, taking care to remove only the yellow, not the pith.
2. Roast strips in a 250°F oven for 10 minutes; stir the zest to promote even roasting.
3. Replace and roast strips for another 20 minutes; remove and cool strips.
4. Grind in a clean spice grinder until finely ground.
5. Toast cumin seeds over medium flame until you can smell the earthy tones. Remove from heat, cool, and grind in a coffee grinder with the celery seeds until coarsely ground.
6. Combine smoked paprika, paprika, Splenda, black pepper, garlic powder, chili powder and lemon peel. Stir in ground cumin and celery seeds.
7. Place into tight fitting bottles and use within 3 months.
8. To use, rub your chicken with a bit of olive oil, then sprinkle this mixture on the chicken liberally. Massage the spices into every nook and cranny of the chicken, then grill or roast it to your heart’s desire.

Tagged as: barbecue, bbq, chicken, diabetes, diabetic, rub, spice