Greek Rub

Must be the season.

Pags sent me a Greek Rub also, home made; haven't cooked with it yet.

quote:

Originally posted by SmokinOkie:
Must be the season.

Pags sent me a Greek Rub also, home made; haven't cooked with it yet.

Ha, my wife is Greek, and she has not cooked in a month. If the smoker dies, so will we.

Glad to see I'm not the only Greek in the Forum family.

quote:

Originally posted by Pags:
So as not to threadjack, I started a separate one.

SmokinMAINEiac--

Que'n RN mentioned you sent him a Greek rub in his exchange package. Is it a commercial rub or homemade? If homemade, care to share your recipe?

Pags

PS If personal or family secret, I can deal with it.

Hey Pags,

No secret recipes in my collection. I am always glad to share but appreciate that there are some folks who don't.

Sorry, the rub is not homemade. It is Cavender's All Purpose Greek Seasoning. It was recommeded to me by the owner of my favorite meat shop as the best selling seasoning in his store. He even gave me my first container. It is good on everything, but I like it on chicken. In fact, I'm going to rotisserie a chicken on my Weber Summit this w/e and I'll be using Cavender's (we use the salt free version).

In my package I included Nantucket Off-shore Cajun seasoning. I also have a N O-S greek blend called Mt. Olympus I have yet to try.

MAINEiac

My stupid buddy Tim gave me some Cavenders to try. I also think it is very good on chicken, use it in the brine mix on occasions.

Olive oil then Cavender's. Mom always threw the olive oil on the leg of lamb before adding her Greek spices. It was awesome. More of the spice adhers with the olive oil.

I still can't duplicate her flavor. I think it's cause she cooked it very, very well. I always stop short of her temperature achievements.

quote:

Originally posted by cal:
My stupid buddy Tim gave me some Cavenders to try. I also think it is very good on chicken, use it in the brine mix on occasions.

I am planning to brine a chicken with Cavender's before rubbing with Cavender's and cooking it on the rotisserie. Now I'll slather it with olive oil too thanks to Pags' suggestion.

I put Cavender's on my briskets, along with cookshack brisket rub. Very unique flavor. It's good!

Update: the chicken turned out very well. The basic brine with the single addition of Caverder's, slathered with olive oil and Cavender's rub was delicious!

I've used Cavender's for years. Recently I had a friend get a bad headache after eating chicken I cooked. She ask if I used anything with MSG. Cavender's has it.

Joe--

Try this.

Greek Rub

2 tsp dried parsley flakes
2 tsp dried oregano (preferably Greek)
1 ½ tsp pepper
1 tsp salt, sea, or kosher, or iodized
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp corn starch or arrow root
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp beef bouillon granules or powder without MSG
1 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp lemon zest
½ tsp meat tenderizer without MSG
½ tsp celery salt
¼ tsp cinnamon powder
¼ tsp nutmeg powder
¼ tsp ground thyme

Easy to make.

quote:

Originally posted by Joe M:
I've used Cavender's for years. Recently I had a friend get a bad headache after eating chicken I cooked. She ask if I used anything with MSG. Cavender's has it.

We use the salt-free version. Has no MSG.

Thanks Pags, I copied it to my computer to save and print out. I will be making this on a flank steak in the next couple weeks (one I got at RD)!!!

I think marinaded with some lemon and olive oil and a little of this rub, then rub with more before grilling will be excellent!

Bingo. Perfect Vicki.

I told Smokin in a personal message with my rub/sauce exchange to use olive oil and the rub. But a true Greek would add the lemon.

Also, shared this personal memory with him. When I was a toddler, my grandfather would on special occasions grill up a juicy steak...olive oil, Greek spices, lemon juice in that order, then grill. My brother and I would sit at the table and watch him cook and eat his delicacy...and then we'd get an occasional morsel. Delicious. I think Pa used to look forward to the sharing as much as we did.

I love lemon! I have similar memories of day gone by with family members involving food, thanks for reminding me of them.

He never said a word. He would just start grilling with a smile on his face, and the smell would bring us running.

Smoked 4.5# New Zealand boneless leg of lamb using Pags' Greek Rub, including Lakonia Greek Oregano. Big hit! Will do again. Took out at 145* which was medium to med-rare.

Mmmmm sounds good. The Lakonia is pretty powerful stuff. My wife says it smells up the whole pantry. I think it smells great.

I'm almost done working off current inventory, and the next batch gets the Lakonia. Probably this week.

Pags, just got off the Lakonia website. I ordered their wild Bay Leaves, the bag of oregano and the lg. container of Cavendars. Shipping was only $7.00 so can't complain too much about that. I am looking forward to my pantry smelling good

Thanks to dls. You'll love the smell.

I'm going to make up the new Greek Rub today. Only have enough of my other Greek Rub for one more small cook. Don't want to be caught short.

quote:

Originally posted by Pags:
Bingo. Perfect Vicki.

I told Smokin in a personal message with my rub/sauce exchange to use olive oil and the rub. But a true Greek would add the lemon.

Also, shared this personal memory with him. When I was a toddler, my grandfather would on special occasions grill up a juicy steak...olive oil, Greek spices, lemon juice in that order, then grill. My brother and I would sit at the table and watch him cook and eat his delicacy...and then we'd get an occasional morsel. Delicious. I think Pa used to look forward to the sharing as much as we did.

My wife is Greek, I am not. When I had to make the first obligatory trip to "meet the family" we were still in college. When we drove up I noticed smoke from the back yard and thought great a BBQ, these people can't be all bad. When I arrived at the grill, and the lid was lifted, there was a 10 pound octopus smoking away. My first thought was that my car is blocked in the drive way. Trust me I have grown to love and enjoy Greek food over the 30 plus years, but no amount of Greek rub would have saved that day.

quote:

Originally posted by Cook One:
... My first thought was that my car is blocked in the drive way...

Too Funny ROTFL

That's funny. We all have Greek stories.

I came running in from Little League practice, ran into the kitchen and grabbed a glass to fetch some water. When I went to grab the faucet and pour the water, I screamed, dropped the glass in the sink, breaking it. Sitting in a large pot, were 2 live octopus or octopi gently moving around, starring up at me. Scared the living bejeevers outa me.

Mom said, "Are you allright?" I repied "Yes. Is Theos here?" He was my great uncle, Monsignor in the Greek Orthodox church. Very good man. But strange eating habits. At Easter, he'd eat the whole lamb's head...brain, skin, eyeballs.

quote:

Originally posted by Pags:
That's funny. We all have Greek stories.

I came running in from Little League practice, ran into the kitchen and grabbed a glass to fetch some water. When I went to grab the faucet and pour the water, I screamed, dropped the glass in the sink, breaking it. Sitting in a large pot, were 2 live octopus or octopi gently moving around, starring up at me. Scared the living bejeevers outa me.

Mom said, "Are you allright?" I repied "Yes. Is Theos here?" He was my great uncle, Monsignor in the Greek Orthodox church. Very good man. But strange eating habits. At Easter, he'd eat the whole lambs head...brain, skin, eyeballs.

Pags I have loved being part of a large Greek family. Once I started to enjoy eating Oregano and Feta cheese on my scrambled eggs in the morning I knew I was accepted. Even learned enough Greek to know when they started talking about me. But your right it took a long time to enjoy eating things that were staring back at you from the plate.

People with good family values. Remember the olive oil is good for you.

Aah..That's wonderful. The mixture with Olive oil will create a great taste.

Pags, got the Lakonia Oregano the other day. I get a whiff of it everytime I open up my pantry! It is expensive stuff! I can't believe it was over $8.00 for such a small amount. I also got wild bay leafs and Cavenders seasoning.

Do you order directly through the Lakonia website?

That's how I ordered it. I just made a Greek Rub, my own concoction. I took one bag of Lakonia and built from there. I'm waiting for the lemon zest to add to it and will test it then. If good, I'll share. The Lakonia Greek Oregano is strong and pricey...one of our special treats.

I keep forgetting to comment on this rub (Recipe in post 12 of this thread). I've made it a while ago, have used it many times. Purchased some Cavender's to try out since it's been mentioned a number of times. Pags, I'll take your rub any day over Cavender's! MUCH, MUCH better in my opinion.

Was cooking up some pork tenderloin today, looked on Allrecipes for some inspiration and found a "Greek" recipe. Marinade was lime juice, olive oil, bunch of different spices. My version... Lemon juice, olive oil, 2 TBSP of Pags Greek Rub. Smoked for about a half hour with some oak for just a slight smoke flavor then finished on the grill. AWESOME!

Need to make another batch of this stuff for a leg of lamb for tomorrow. If you haven't tried this yet, you need to, you'll never use Cavender's again.

Hey Pags, what are some good Greek sides to go with the lamb that this Polak can make?

Sorry. This may be a little late, but I'd recommend Yia Yia potatoes.

Get yourself a bag of Ruby Sensation red potatoes. Russet works but you want about 1" cubes. Larger potatoes need more cutting. I like the smaller cause when you quarter them all the cubes have skins on them. So the Ruby Sesantions works well for ease of preparation.

Cut potatoes into quarters. Toss them with olive oil, melted butter, salt, pepper, garlic (don't be shy), oregano, and lemon juice. Spread the cubed potatoes on a foiled lined jelly pan (i.e. cookie sheet). May want to Pam the pan. Bake at 400* for apprx 45 minutes till brown. Flip halfway through cooking.

You want them on the crispier side. They are tasty little morsels and are very popular when we do them.

We don't have measurements, but you want the potatoes well coated with all ingredients. We place the potatoes in a bowl and hand toss. When you're done tossing, you'll smell like a real Greek.

Doing a boneless leg of lamb today also, Andy.

Yep, that's similar to a potato recipe I found.

Rather than Pam & foil, try parchment paper. Easy cleanup & never sticks.