 Simon & Garfunkel Rub & Baste
Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
Remember me to one who lives there,
She once was a true love of mine.
In 1966 Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel popularized their modified version of this haunting 16th Century English canticle on their album named "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme". This is the first verse, and the rest of the song tells the tale of a soldier asking a favor of a friend who is going to Scarborough Fair.
The Fair was a large harvest season market on the east coast. The young swain asks the friend to find his old girlfriend and ask her, if she wishes to be his true love, to perform several impossible tasks, including the planting of parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme on an acre of land she must plow with the horn of a lamb and then harvest the crop with a sickle of leather. The last two verses go like this:
Love imposes impossible tasks,
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
Though not more than any heart asks,
And I must know she's a true love of mine.
Dear, when thou has finished thy task,
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,
Come to me, my hand for to ask,
For thou then art a true love of mine.
This is one cocky dude, no? We do not know if he knew much about women (we think not), but he clearly knew something about cooking. Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme are said to represent bitterness, strength, faithfulness, and courage, and they also make a pretty good all purpose rub for pork, turkey, and chicken (click here for my recipe for Simon & Garfunkel Chicken). I also sprinkle it on grilled asparagus, sauted veggies, and even scrambled eggs.
I make up a batch of my Simon & Garfunkel Rub, store it for months, and sprinkle it on everything on sight. Let me know what you like it on.
Recipe
Briners beware of double salt jeopardy!
Rubs are a great way to add flavor to meat. Brines are also a great way to add flavor as well as moisture. Rubs often contain a lot of salt (click here to read about The Zen of Salt). You can use both a rub and a brine, but beware of double salt jeopardy. If you use a brine and then a rub, you should make your own rub mix and leave the salt out of the blend. A salty rub on top of brined meat can make the meat unbearably salty. Remember, you can always add salt, but there's no taking it away.
|
Preparation time. 10 minutes
Makes. About 1/4 cup, enough for about 8 large whole chickens
Ingredients
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon dried crushed sage
1 tablespoon dried crushed rosemary
1 tablespoon dried crushed thyme
1 tablespoon dried crushed oregano
1 tablespoon dried crushed basil
1 tablespoon dried crushed bay leaf
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon dried crushed hot red pepper (cayenne or chipotle)
About the parsley. Fresh parsley is a lot better than dried. If you can, buy fresh parsley, chop it, and freeze it in a zipper bag. As you prepare this recipe, leave out the parsley, and then, when you get ready to use it, add the frozen parsley after the rest of the rub. It will defrost rapidly and taste better.
About the salt. If you use table salt, use less. Follow the link above to read why.
Optional. Mix a tablespoon of rub with 6 tablespoons of vegetable or olive oil an hour or so before cooking to make a paste. Use this as a baste during cooking.
Do this
1) Measure everything and dump it into a blender. If your measurements are not precise or if you lack one or two ingredients, no wars will break out, but I think the bay leaf and rosemary are essential. Crushed bay leaf may be hard to find so you can use whole bay leaf. Just take about 8 leaves and crumble them in your hand, measure the crumbled amount and add more if necessary. If you use a powdered herb, cut the quantity in about half. The pepper will add a little heat, but not much, but you can cut it out if you're a wimp or amp it up if you're a tough guy.
2) Put the lid on the blender (very important), and run it on high for a few seconds, turn it off, and run it again. Continue pulsing about 10 times until you have small flakes about the size of the letters in a newspaper. Add them to the jar and shake.
3) How to use this stuff. Coat the meat with vegetable oil or olive oil, sprinkle on the rub liberally, even if you are a conservative. If time permits, let the seasoned meat sit in the fridge for an hour or three. The oil is important because many of the flavors in the herbs are oil soluble and the time in the fridge helps the flavor permeate.
4) Grill or bake.
This page was revised 2/7/2009
|
|
Important Info About This Website
 AmazingRibs.com is all about the Zen of Barbecue, cooking ribs, and all kinds of BBQ recipes and techniques: Barbecue baby back ribs, spare ribs, pulled pork, beef brisket, chicken, smoked turkey, steak, lamb, barbecue sauces, rubs, and great side dishes, with the net's best buying guide to barbecue smokers and cookers. It is written, illustrated, and coded solely by Craig "Meathead" Goldwyn.
About links on this site. Other than clearly marked ads, links and recommendations on this site are all products, services, and websites I truly admire, and are never paid endorsements. Your suggestions are always welcome. If you would like me to link to your website, click here to read my links policy first.
 Product Reviews and Meathead's Hot Stuff Awards. Meathead's Hot Stuff Awards are highly recommended products that I have tested personally or that have been tested by reliable sources. Awards are based on features, quality, and value. Rest assured that when I recommend a product, it is really because I like it, not because someone has paid me to say so or because the company is an advertiser or sponsor. I purchase most products I review although occasionally suppliers send me samples.
My Privacy Promise. I promise to never sell or distribute any info about you individually without your express permission, and I promise not to, ahem, pepper you with email or make you eat spam. Click here for more about my privacy promise.
Copyright © 2009 by Craig "Meathead" Goldwyn. Unless otherwise noted, all text, recipes, photos, and code are owned by Meathead and fully protected by US copyright law. This means you need my written permission to publish or distribute anything on this website. But I'm easy. To get reprint rights, click here. Note: Some product photos were provided by the manufacturers and under their copyright.
|
|
With a $15 donation he'll send you a very cool embroidered iron-on patch.
or the 
from Amazon.
