This Chicken recipe is very versatile.  It's sweet and flavorful, but not spicy so it appeals to all palates.  I make it with chicken wings every year for a charity event,  We've won in competition with it on legs, too.  You could use it on parts or a whole bird.  It works well on the smoker with a fruit wood like apple or peach, but would do just as well on a grill or in the oven.

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp      Herbs de Provence
1 tbsp        Lavender
1 tbsp        Dried sage
¼ cup       Garlic powder
¼ cup       Onion powder
2 tbsp       Sugar
1 tbsp        Toasted fennel seeds
1 tbsp        Toasted coriander seeds
1 ½ tsp     Black pepper
                  Oil for rubbing on the wings
                  Agave syrup for glazing

Directions:
Grind each ingredient separately to a soft powder.  Combine all the dry ingredients. This will give you a very consistent rub.

Brine the chicken wings for 30 minutes in a standard, unflavored brine. If you aren't going to brine your chicken, add 2 tbsp of salt to the rub.
NOTE: a standard  brine mixes 1 cup sugar and 1 cup salt in a gallon of water.  A whole chicken should be left in the brine for about 4 hours.  Parts or wings can be brined for about an hour.


Dry the chicken and coat with a little oil.  Sprinkle on the rub and let sit for 15 minutes at room temperature.

Place chicken on your cooking method of choice (smoker, grill, oven) and cook until chicken reaches 160 degrees.

Brush agave syrup on the chicken and cook an additional 10 minutes.  At this point temp the chicken and check the glaze.  If you would like it stickier or sweeter, add more agave.  Cook the chicken until it reaches 165 degrees.

What's written here will be pretty obvious, but still I make these mistakes all the time so it bears repeating...

1. Store rubs in airtight containers.  Rubs are mostly salt and sugar, both ingredients that will absorb moisture and cake or clump.  Use containers that seal well with rubber gaskets or tight fitting lids.  I always forget that the soup containers from the takeout restaurant have holes punched into the lids. 
2. Use a container that is appropriately sized.  Don't put a cup of rub into a quart container.  Even if it seals well, you've just locked enough moist air into the container to clump up the works.
3. Glass or Plastic?  This is difficult because both have pros and cons.  Plastic containers are light weight, don't break, come in a variety of sizes, often stack well and can be written on in marker.  Glass containers won't absorb the smells, tastes or colors of rubs and are see-through.  I use both.  If you think a plastic container will impart flavors to a new rub, fill it with white vinegar for a few hours and rinse.  (Keep the vinegar.  You can use it again, or put it in a spray bottle to sanitize your kitchen surfaces.)  
4. Make sure the container is dry!  Nothing is worse that dumping a rub into a jar to realize that there was a little water in the corners, and not your rub is stuck there.
5. Label your containers!!  Really, I can't put enough exclamation points here.  This is my major sin, and I commit it over and over again.  You would think that once one has coated a piece of pork with the cinnamon cocoa powder meant to coat the chocolate truffles, one would never make the labeling mistake again, but apparently not.

This is the rub that started it all so it seems only fitting that it be the first recipe we share.  This is the brisket recipe that my friend, Ryan, a Texas native, gave to me when he taught me to smoke my first brisket.  It's simple, and it's delicious.  It's also great on popcorn!

Ryan's Texas Brisket Rub
Ingredients:
¾ c        Paprika
¼ c        Black pepper
¼ c        Chili powder
¼ c        Salt
¼ c        Sugar
2 tbsp    Garlic powder
2 tbsp    Onion powder
1 tbsp     Cayenne pepper
 
Combine all ingredients and mix well.  Store in an airtight container in a cool dry place.  Sprinkle onto brisket and let the meat sit for at least 6 hours.  This draws moisture out of the meat which helps make a nice bark.