Now that I am a stay at home mom again, I am really enjoying cooking for my family.  We eat a lot of chicken and pork.  On occasion I will buy some steaks.  One thing I like is to marinate the meat before I cook it.  I feel like it helps to lock in the flavor and keep it from drying out.  While it works sometimes and definitely adds flavor to the meat, there are a lot of times that the meat will dry out and that is VERY frustrating.  Who wants to eat dried out meat for dinner?  Not me.

And then I was introduced to the idea of using a dry-rub on the meat I was cooking.  I was told that it would really lock in the flavor and keep the meat from drying out.  To be honest, I really thought that was impossible.  Since I had never used a dry-rub before, I really thought it would completely dry out the meat.   Boy was I wrong!  Very, very wrong!

The particular dry-rub I used was Char Crust Dry-Rub Seasoning.  This stuff is amazing!  It comes in a wide variety of flavors.  I received the following flavors to review:

• Roasted Garlic Peppercorn:features the robust flavor of roasted garlic and onions with the zing of peppercorns and a hint of Worcestershire and lavender. Its versatility has made it a best seller. It complements steaks, lamb, seafood, pork, poultry, and potatoes.
• Ginger Teriyaki:is a balance of sweet teriyaki, fragrant ginger, plus a tingly touch of wasabi that lends a new dimension and creates a modern teriyaki interpretation. It complements chicken, fish, and steak.
• Amazin’ Cajun:is a spicy-sweet blend of piquant cayenne pepper, onion, garlic, oregano and a mélange of other Mardi Gras flavors. It brings the sublime heat of New Orleans to catfish, chicken, shrimp, and even “dirty” rice.
• All American Barbeque: takes the best flavors of American barbecue and blends them into a tangy-sweet, slightly spicy rub. It has rich molasses from Memphis, tangy tomato from Kansas City, mustard, pepper and vinegar from the Carolinas, plus a wisp of smoke from Texas.

The other night we had a friend over for dinner.  I broiled steaks.  Now…not only was this the first time I have ever broiled anything (which it was SUPER easy and quick!), but it was also the first time I ever used a dry-rub.  I chose to use the Roasted Garlic Peppercorn.  Not only did it lock in the juices keeping the meat from drying out, but it was absolutely delicious.  I paired the steaks with twice baked potatoes and green beans and it was a fabulous meal!

Simply pour a little of the dry-rub in the center of the meat and pat it all around, making sure to thoroughly cover both sides of the meat.  Since I broiled it, I used a drip pan (line the bottom layer of the pan with foil for easy clean up!), but you can also use a grill or pan fry it.  However you choose to cook the meat is up to you, but the results are absolutely bound to knock your socks off!

My son really liked the barbeque flavored rub.  Though I have to admit, he was a tad confused why he was tasting barbeque sauce but didn’t see it!  While the barbeque was definitely good, my favorite was a tie between the Amazin’ Cajun and Ginger Teriyaki!  So so good!

How would you, my awesome readers like to win ALL FOUR Char Crust Dry-Rub seasonings that I mentioned above?  Simply read below (and please follow the directions on entering!!) for details on how to enter!  Good luck!

 

 

GIVEAWAY!!

This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only please.  You must complete the mandatory entry FIRST before any additional entry will be accepted.  

Mandatory Entry:  What is your favorite dry-rub or marinade brand or recipe?

Additional Entries:

• Follow this blog via email
• “Like” Diaries of a Domestic Goddess on Facebook
• Follow @DGoddess on Twitter
• Stumble any non-contest post (unlimited)
• Comment on any non-contest post (unlimited)

This giveaway will run from today (4/17/2012) until May 1st at 8pm EST.  One winner will be chosen at random using the “And the Winner Is” plug in.  An email will be sent to the winner and they will have 48hrs to respond to the email with their shipping information.  If I do not hear from the winner, a new winner will be determined.

 

Disclosure:  I was provided with the above 4 mentioned Char Crust Dry-rub seasonings for the purpose of this review.  All opinions stated are 100% mine.