Rod’s Rub

Everyone knows that I am not the master of the grill like Adam. My preferred technique is to sauté. I have been experimenting lately with using rubs. While rubs are more prevelant in grilling, they seem to work equally well on sautéed foods as well.

Tilapia is a rather bland-tasting but inexpensive and readily available fish that benefits from this treatment. Previously, I have used Old Bay Seasoning as a rub but it is too spicy for my family’s taste.

Melanie Babcock from Rod’s Rubs graciously offered me samples of their products to try and both my wife and I are ready to adopt a couple of them as the official rub of the Fumbling Foodie household.

I bought three tilapia filets, applied a different rub to each, and then sautéed them in butter. The filet in the rear has Sweet Mesquite on it, the one in the front has Citrus Tang. I used Original All Purpose as well but perpared it separately so as not to crowd them in the pan.

Results:

The Original All Purpose was our least favorite because (at least in this application) it seemed too mild. Remember however that this is Arizona – Salsa outsells catsup – where our tastebuds are used to spicy foods. The Sweet Mesquite was excellent, lending a nice smoky mesquite flavor. Our favorite – hands down – was the Citrus Tang. My wife is not a fish-lover so her opinion was the acid test. She Loved it! Think of it: I can take a piece of inexpensive, readily-available, healthy fish and convert it from something that tastes almost as good as cardboard into a really tasty dish just by rubbing in some Citrus Tang!

I’ll see how it does on some grilled chicken tonight.