Older Bolder Life

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spice rub

The Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Smokey Chipotle Coffee Rub

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As I’ve shared in many of our recipes over the past year, we’re enthusiastic fans of big flavors around our camp, and have rarely come across a spice rub we didn’t enjoy.

For years now we’ve played with a variety of rubs (and sauces & marinades) featuring coffee in one form or another, and this Smokey Chipotle Coffee Rub has come to be our very favorite coffee based rub for most proteins – it’s absolutely wonderful on beef and pork.

As with most spice mixtures, using the freshest spices you can get your hands on yields the best results, as does grinding the coffee beans just before use (if you’re geared to do so). Chipotle peppers bring such a nifty smokey flavor to the flavor game here and it plays incredibly well with the coffee notes; using a good smoked paprika adds another layer of flavor as well.

As we’ve become Primal/Paleo aligned in 99% of our cooking, I’ve taken to leaving the brown sugar out or cutting it down, though both my wife and can taste the difference, and frankly you can count us among the crowd that considers a whisp of sugar in a marinade or rub a reasonable indulgence now and again.

Try this one using the core five spices at least once, and experiment with the optional flavors listed as well, or throw your favorites into the mix next time around. I used this on a couple of grass-fed New York strips last weekend….

2 parts dark roast or espresso coffee, finely ground
2 parts fresh chipotle chile powder
2 parts kosher salt
1 part ground coriander
1 part good paprika (try a smoked paprika here too)

Optional
1 part brown sugar
1/2 part freshly ground black pepper
1/2 part garlic power/granulated garlic
1/2 part powdered ginger

Combine the 5 core ingredients (the first in the list) along with whatever optional ingredients you’d like to throw in the mix. Stir to mix well.

Rub your protein generously with the rub and let rest for at least an hour (in the fridge if longer).

Grill/roast/smoke per your routine; the NY strips I did this past weekend were some of the best steaks we’ve done in a long time – one hour at 129 in the sous vide followed by a quick sear over hardwood charcoal. Hot damn.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast 14 June: Rain Day Spice Dusted Spareribs

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A few years back our family lived, worked, and played hard in Montana; I was involved (more than) full time in a medical practice, and as a family we ran a horse farm, training facility, and equestrian event center.

We were unbelievably busy, and tended by necessity to be very efficient in our food preparation and cooking. Our food prep challenges were compounded during the winter season; winters in Northwestern Montana can be long, dark, snowy, and brutally cold.

Back several years ago we were catering an event at the barn, and the group wanted a Texas-inspired barbecue with brisket, ribs, and all the trimmings. Brisket is another issue, but the ribs were a particular challenge as we were deep in a teeth-chatteringly-cold snowy spell and couldn’t spend a day outside tending ribs in our commercial smoker.

Long story short, we sorted through a pile of recipes and experimented for several weeks to craft the predecessor of this rub. The beauty of this approach was simple: we could rub the ribs and do the majority of the cook in a relatively slow oven, then finish them up over a quick turn on the grill (something we could do no matter how damn cold it was at at time).

The ribs were so easy, and more importantly, so danged good that we’ve ended up making this our default, go-to rib rub recipe, whether we’re cooking in the smoker or in the oven, as I did again a few days ago when a day-long rain make a long cook in the smoker impossible.

I make the rub in fairly large batches and have outlined the proportions used for the ingredients below – you can make as big or small a batch as you desire. You can substitute fresh cilantro and oregano for the dried, add any dried pepper you care to for heat (we like chipotle), and add a bit of brown sugar or cane sugar for a hint of sweetness, though I haven’t done that in years.

3 full racks 3/down pork spareribs

2 parts sweet paprika
1 part chile powder
1 part ground cumin
1 part ground coriander
1 part granulated garlic
1 part freshly ground pepper
1 part good salt
1 part dried cilantro
1 part dried oregano

Optional
Sub 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro for the dried
Sub 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh oregano for the dried
1-2 tsp chipotle powder
Up to 1 part brown sugar

Prep your ribs by removing the membranes, washing off the bone, then patting dry.

Combine the rub ingredients and mix well, paint the ribs with cider vinegar and coat both sides liberally (very liberally) with the rub.

The rain day oven cheat version: Place on a baking sheet (they can be stacked) and place in a 225 to 250 degree oven for at least 4 hours, I typically try to shoot for 6 hours. No need to turn these beauties; your slow-cooking in dry heat and letting those spices work their magic.

Thirty minutes before the end of your planned cook time, fire your trusty grill to a low heat setting (real wood is so much better here). When the ribs are done, throw them over the low heat fire for about 10 minutes, turning once. Your goal here is color them up a bit and add a bit of a crunchy sear.

The low and slow smoker version: Fire the smoker with a gently flavored wood; we favor oak with just a little mesquite for this one (though use your favorites). Smoke for 4-6 hours at a target temp of 200 to 225. These beauties won’t need to be tuned up on the grill like their oven-roasted kin above.

We like to trim these into single ribs right at the table and let everyone ‘grab it and growl’. These are so good, and tender, we most often don’t serve with any sauce; if you insist on one, use your favorite, though we most often reach for a tomatillo-based sauce/salsa like this one, or use a taqueria-style guacamole.

Enjoy.

the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: New Mexico Red Spice Rub No. 1

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Earlier this week I posted on Instagram a pic of a quick dinner one afternoon, a blackened mahi fish taco over our house guacamole in romaine “boats”; several people emailed to ask about the spice mixes we use…

In part due to growing up in the Texas Panhandle and escaping often to nearby New Mexico to hike, camp, and ski growing up, and in part due to the fact that New Mexico offers a wonderful, and very unique, regional cuisine to those willing to invest some time learning about it, we’ve long been fans of New Mexico’s spicy food culture.

One of the things we’ve worked on over the years is developing spice mixes featuring New Mexico’s great array of chiles; this New Mexico Red Spice Rub No. 1 is our version featuring the Chimayo red chile (though you can of course use whatever red chile powder you have on hand).

This is outstanding with fish, chicken, or pork (trying a slow roasted pork shoulder slathered in this), and we even occasionally use it in places you wouldn’t necessarily expect, as in flavoring a vinaigrette or even sprinkle over scrambled or deviled eggs.

3 parts good New Mexico chili powder (Chimayo)
2 parts sweet paprika
1 and 1/2 parts ground cumin
1 part granulated garlic
1 part granulated onion
1 part freshly ground black pepper
1 part good salt (kosher salt)
1/2 part dried (Mexican) oregano
1/2 part chipotle powder
1/2 part ground coriander

This one couldn’t be easier, mix the dry ingredients well in a small bowl. Stir tightly sealed in a cool, dark place, and use generously.