Make your own Spice Blend
Tuesday, October 9, 2012 at 4:00AM 
All this week, Special Fork bloggers are revealing what’s in their pantry, with tips for using pantry staples. To celebrate Pantry Week, Special Fork has teamed up with Zojirushi, the Japanese maker of top-quality kitchen appliances, to offer a fabulous sweepstakes prize: the 5.5-cup capacity Zojirushi Micom Rice Cooker & Warmer ($192 MSRP), which not only cooks rice flawlessly, but also steams foods and bakes cakes. Menu settings include: white/sushi, mixed, porridge, sweet, brown, cake, steam and quick cooking. Enter to win!
Dried herbs and spices are forever proliferating in my pantry, taunting me with their two-year shelf life. One great way to plow through those jostling jars is to make your own spice blends.
I knew my guy was a keeper when he coated chicken thighs with this all-purpose rub, which he employs on everything from bell peppers to skirt steak. Try it as a dry rub on a smoked pork butt, or mix it with a few glugs of olive oil for a wet rub that packs chicken breasts with flavor and seals in moisture.