A few days back, I was preparing a spice cure for a new batch of Bresaola, a spice cured beef similar in preparation to Prosciutto. As I was mixing the spices, I realized that the cure mixture would have a great BBQ rub. The mix has some nice earthy and spicy flavor to it that would match well with beef or pork. Just blend everything together in a large bowl and sprinkle on before you start cooking.

Here is the basic mix:

Here are some ideas for variations on this mix.

• If you want to cut down on the salt, substitute brown or white sugar for half the salt.
• If you are not a fan of cumin, substitute celery salt for the ground cumin and celery seed for the whole cumin.
• To us this mixture as a brine, add 1 cup of sugar (brown or white). In a large container, add a gallon of room temperature water to the spice mix and stir until mixed. Chill the brine before using.

Enjoy!

Mise en Place!  What the heck is that?  Well, it's a performance standard in the cooking world.  This is one of the first culinary terms students in culinary school learn.  Mise in Place is a French term meaning, everything in its place.  In other words, organized, prepared, etc.

I am a stalker of culinary blogs - and when a blog I really dig says "you MUST make this", I take it as a personal challenge. This recipe is so easy to put together and without the fuss of having to measure out for individual cookies, it is truly a mix and dump it recipe, simply dump your "brittle" on a baking sheet, apply a small amount of maintenance and I present to you: cookie brittle!

Nothing lovelier than spending a rainy overcast day with the remote and watching various cooking shows. On Diners, Dives and Drivethru's - Guy visited a place that made blubbery muffin french toast, intrigued, I decided to give it a try. Wow! This is some serious breakfast/brunch goodness. Kitchen notes: I made my blueberry muffin bread the day prior to the french toast - it gave it time to set up as I was worried about it being too moist the day I baked it and feared it would fall apart once dipped in the egg batter.

This wonderful Rosemary Honey Mustard pork roast would be a wonderful alternative to a ham on Turkey Day - it makes about 6 servings and the recipe is courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis. It is served on a bed of arugula that has been simply dressed and lends a great contrast with the roasted pork.

Figs, glorious figs…

I spotted fresh figs at my farmers market recently and I definitely had some sort of fig cocktail on my mind when I bought them. I did some research and decided to make fig infused vodka.