If I’ve said it once, I’m sure that I’ve said it a thousand times. I love to cook! Coming from a strictly meat and potatoes family, however, I never really ventured into the arena of exotic cooking until my senior year in high school. Something happened then that sealed my love of cooking forever.
Because I was planning to become a nurse, I had to either take a foreign language; either Latin or French. Since I had already taken a half-year of French in the sixth grade, I figured I could pick it up again without too much difficulty. I was wrong, of course, but that’s another story.
My French teacher actually came from Paris, France. She endeavored to get her students to fully embrace the French culture in order to get a better understanding of the people and the language. As part of our indoctrination to the culture, she offered free French cooking lessons to those students who were interested.
I loved the cooking lessons and soaked up anything and everything I could learn about French cuisine. Of course my parents that I was nuts when I wanted to make Duck La’Orange for thanksgiving dinner or chocolate soufflés for Christmas dessert. But that didn’t phase me one bit because I was in food creativity heaven.
From that early exposure to gourmet food I learned that a lot of European cooking is all about the spices. As I began to explore new seasonings and spices, I learned how to use them to enhance normal, everyday meat and potatoes. I also learned how to combine them in order to bring out the best in each individual spice.
Today, I rarely cook without using spices. I have a cabinet full of my favorites. About a year ago I discovered seasoning “rubs” through Suzanne Somers. While hers are still my favorite, because they have none of the bad stuff I’m supposed to avoid on my diet, I have found another brand that I like as well from McCormick.
McCormick offers expertly blended seasonings that ensure foolproof flavor each and every time you use it. Rubs are great for those with very little time to spend in the kitchen. Instead of taking time to blend the spices and seasonings yourself, McCormick does the work for you.
Seasoning rubs also help to seal in the meat’s natural juices so that remain moist and tender from the first bite to the last. As a bonus, the delicious pan drippings can be used as a base to make scrumptious gravies that are fit for any gourmet food lover.
McCormick rubs come in several variations, which include: French herb, savory herb, cracked peppercorn herb, chicken/turkey rub, and steak rub.
The French herb rub contains a blend of the classics like rosemary, marjoram, thyme, sage, tarragon, and lavender. This rub is especially tasty when used on chicken, pork, or lamb.
The savory herb rub contains a robust blend of garlic, onion, and sage. It is the perfect complement to pork, chicken, and beef.
The cracked peppercorn herb rub obviously contains cracked black peppercorns, but also boasts rosemary and crushed red pepper. These seasonings combine to turn an ordinary roast into meal fit for a king.
If grilling is your preferred method of cooking, McCormick has that covered as well. Their line of Grill Mate rubs offer bold flavors like hickory, mesquite, teriyaki, and chipolte as well as their signature Montreal steak.
I’m a huge fan of most of McCormick’s seasonings and spices. In fact, I doubt there is another brand in my cabinet. I’ve found their products to be exemplary on all levels, so why change what works?
McCormick rubs come in small, compact jars that are easy to store in the cabinet. I stack mine to save even more cabinet space.
These delicious rubs are available at most grocery centers as well as many discount department stores that handle food. The average price is $2.99.
If you haven’t tried these wonderful seasonings, you are missing out on something very special. These get five out of five stars in my book.
