Cajun spice rub and Warm Garden Salad

On the previous post i mentioned getting ready made spice rub for your steaks yeah? Well today I'll teach you how to concoct your own batch of cajun spice mix.

Cajun Spice Mix

This one of those things that you would want to have stocked in your kitchen pantry at all times. Not only does it goes well with steaks, it also goes well with chicken, pork, shrimp and the list can go on... It's basically a dry rub but it can also become a wet marinade as well, with some fresh ingredients like garlic and olive oil, it's one of the very versatile condiments you can find on this world....(I think...)

500gm Paprika
200gm Chili Powder
200gm Brown Sugar

150gm Mixed Dry Herbs
100gm Coarse Salt
80gm Crushed black Peppercorn

50gm Onion Powder
50gm Garlic Powder
50gm Chicken Seasoning

Preparing this is so simple I can do this with my eyes closed and one hand tied behind my back. All you have to do is mix everything in a dry bowl, pour it into an air-tight jar and store it in a cool dry area. Easy-peasy

The reason to use coarse salt is because as a dry rub, it has to be abrasive so that the spices can penetrate into whatever meat you intend to apply it on. Proportion wise it's basically a guideline, ultimately just adjust it until it taste salty, and a tint of smoky spicyness.

Warm Garden Salad (serves 4)

Well I don't think that you guys will be satisfied with just a simple spice rub right? Ok I'll throw in another just to make you guys happy... =)

600gm Arugula
480gm Fresh Chorizo Sausages
40gm Cherry Tomatoes(halved)
30gm Roasted Walnut Meat
3 tbsp Olive Oil
5 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
1 tbsp Mixed Herbs
Salt & Crushed black pepper

Make sure you get fresh and not smoked sausages cause you need to render out the fat of the sausages to contribute to your vinaigrette. So take your sausages and fry them in a hot pan. Once done remove and set aside. Retain the fat rendered from the sausages in the pan and add a bit more olive oil. Heat up the oil and throw in mixed herbs and fry till fragrant. Whisk in balsamic vinegar. At this point all your vegies and nuts should already been washed, prepared and sitting in a salad bowl waiting to be tossed. Pour in the vinaigrette and tossed it thoughroughly. Lay the salad on a plate and placed a sausage on top.

Points to ponder....
I gotta admit, the sausages are kinda pricey so for a cheaper alternative and to keep to the italian style, since most of the ingredients are italian based, use canned cannelli beans. They are white, broad beans from italy, kinda like kidney beans but white. So if you cant find them kidney beans can do too.

Because Arugula is quite if not very bitter eaten raw, you need a very strong flavoured vinaigrette to balance out the bitterness. So using balsamic vinegar seems like an option but, if you don't have a good quality balsamic vinegar it can be really tart so the only option is to heat it up. Why? Cause balsamic vinegar actually has a very high sugar content but the sweetness of it can only be brought out if you heat it up. Thus, warm balsamic vinaigrette.