The Rub

I was a vegetarian for 5 years. No meat, no fish, very strict. One day, I was up at my Mom's and she had made this dish for dinner. She asked me to join the family to eat, trying to coax me into it since it is my favorite and she was concerned about my protein intake. I refused, trying to stick to my principles. The rest of the family left, and I was there alone after dinner. I thought I'd sneak in and have the tiniest bite of the leftovers and no one would know the difference. Well, I ended up eating the entire pan--atleast a pound of fish.

The first time I made this myself, I had mostly whole spices, it tasked good, but now I prefer to break out the mortar and pestle if I don't have pre-ground spices.

I've printed the recipe the way I like it, with the sugar doubled. If you like it more salty than sweet (don't know why you would) just half the sugar. You should probably use less at a time if its saltier. My mom gave me the recipe as the saltier version, but I think she was already adding in much more sugar than it called for.

3 T salt
4 T white sugar
2 T brown sugar
2 t ground pepper
2 t celery seed
2 t paprika
2 t cayenne
1 t onion powder
1/2 t chili powder
1/4 t cumin
1/4 t ground fennel

Salmon

This is enough rub to make several meals. Store it in a container with a tightly sealing lid. I often make a big batch so that it'll be handly when we have fish.

Rinse salmon and lay out on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle VERY liberally with the spice mixture (I put it on ~1/16 inch thick). Bake or grill the fish until it flakes easily and becomes opaque.