21 Seasoning Salute. MMM, MMMM.

I put that ish on everything-burgers, chicken, steak, eggs...

Red chili oil -- Dried red organic chilis, crushed, covered in a blend of coconut oil and ghee. This can sit in your cupboard for MONTHS, and the longer it sits, the hotter it gets, up to the Scoville rating for the peppers you're using. I make mine with organic red Hatch chilis, brought back each summer from Hatch New Mexico.

Salted garlic rub -- Crush 4-5 heads (not cloves, full heads) of garlic. Combine with 1/4 cup of "Real Salt" or sea salt. Add about 1/4 cup of coconut oil to fill a wide-mouth jar (I find that re-used ghee jars work great for this). This keeps on your shelf at room temperature for about 6 months. Scoop out a handful and rub your steak down with it.

I really like to use the salted garlic rub with a simple wine marinade for some of the tougher cuts of meat -- it makes for one of the best London Broils we've ever eaten. Just use the salted garlic rub on your meat, then pour 2 cups of red wine into a glass bowl, drop in your meat, let it marinate for about 2 hrs, flipping halfway through, then drop it on the grill.

My favorite rub is a combo of saffron and fennel pollen.

I personally lightly coat the surface of the meat with a very thin layer of honey (less than a teaspoon for a 5lb brisket) just to give the meat a slight stickiness and sweetness. Then I coat with kosher sea salt, smoked paprika, roasted cumin, chili powder, black+red+white pepper, and onion+garlic powder.

Then it's "low and slow" for awhile, cranking up the heat near the end for some browning.

I have two go to spice rubs, I make up a ton at once and keep them in an airtight container so I have them ready to go.

Coffee Rub: (http://www.livefabuless.com/coffeerub) This is INSANELY good on steak-- but I also use it on pork ribs and chicken-- it forms a crust and is earthy, tangy and a hint of spice.

1/3 cup ground espresso

1/3 cup paprika

2 tbs brown sugar (Use Stevia or honey-- or omit entirely, if you prefer)

1 tsp chipotle powder

1 tbs granulated garlic

1 tbs ground coriander

1 tbs ground mustard

2 tsp ground ginger

1 tbs granulated onion

2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp freshly cracked pepper

Homemade Taco Seasoning: (http://www.livefabuless.com/taco-seasoning)

This one is great for so much more than just as taco seasoning-- I throw it on pulled pork, season up my burgers with it, toss it on roasted veggies... mmmmm.

1 part of each of the following: chili powder (use two or more parts chili powder if you like more kick!), garlic powder, onion powder, ground coriander, salt and pepper

2 parts: celery seed

4 parts: cumin

12 parts: paprika

I never make it the same way twice, but here's generally how I start:

2 T Hungarian paprika

1 T each - sea salt, granulated garlic, onion powder, chili powder (Gebhart's if you can find it), ground cumin and celery seed

1 t mustard powder, 1 t fresh-ground black pepper, and 1/2 t cayenne pepper

Toss it all together in a bowl and adjust to taste. Rub it into your pork ribs, then wrap tightly with plastic wrap and let the ribs sit in the fridge overnight.

T=Tablespoon, t=teaspoon

I don't have a ton of experience cooking meats (yet). Usually, my boyfriend takes on meat duty and I prep veggies or a salad of some sort. But I've been cooking meats (especially hanger steak... yummy) a little more often in the last week or two, and I found that Alaea red Hawaiian salt really brings out the flavor of red meats. I think it can be a little spendy, but it makes a great finishing salt. Also, I've been using balsamic vinegar a lot in cooking meats, and I think it's delicious.

I made a great dinner the other night: Medium-rare steak, cooked in rosemary/sage-infused ghee with balsamic reduction as a sauce. It was topped with halved cherry tomatoes and Nicoise olives. I had with it a side of veggies which was sauteed fiddlehead ferns and eggplant with toasted walnuts. (Yep, I spoiled myself. But it was so worth it!)

We like to use Tony's seasoning--it's great!

I love emeril's creole seasoning (the recipe is online) on salmon.

World Market and Penzeys each sell a lot of excellent spice rubs already made which do not contain sugar. I really like the African Peri Peri Grilling Rub from World Market and their 3-in-1 package for Italian seasoning, Greek seasoning, and Herbs de Provence. Penzeys has a great corned beef seasoning which I really enjoy too - all sugar free.