Please critique my blackening spice recipe

The Mississippi River was kind and yielded up a nice quantity of walleye, bass and crappie this last week so when I got home I set about cooking some for dinner. I wanted to do it on my grill (Weber gasser - I'll save the charcoal for when it's not raining!) and my google searches came up with blackened walleye. I started with a recipe I found:

1 teaspoon ground basil
1 teaspoon ground thyme
1 teaspoon garlic
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt (sea salt is better)
1 teaspoon onion powder
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon paprika


Read more: http://www.food.com/recipe/blackening-s ... z1cJchdSR2


I made the following changes to the above:
- Sounded like a lot of cayenne so I went with about 1/2 tsp instead of two.
- I added about 1/2 tsp ground ancho chili pepper.
- I used Hungarian paprika which also has some heat.

I started with pieces of fillet from one of the larger fish - up to 1" thick - and dipped them first in a mix of melted butter and then sprinkled on the blackening mix. I then smeared the blackening mix on the fish to get an even coating. It's sort of like a wet rub and next time I'll just mix the blackening in the butter/oil and apply.

I grilled the fish in a medium hot grill (thermometer read about 475° F) until it was flaky.

Both SWMBO and I were pretty happy with the results. There was no reaching for lemon or tar-tar sauce to augment, it was great just as it came off the grill. Heat from the cayenne was moderate and I'm glad I modified that part of the recipe.

I'm curious about what else I could do with the blackening mix. It seems to me that some oregano and cumin would also be good. Do any of you have suggestions?

thanks,
hank

I've used this before when doing blackened catfish in the CI on the stove and it was quite good.

2 tablespoons ground paprika
1 tablespoon ground cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

Hank,

Any sort of Creole seasoning would work. I believe it was Paul Prudhomme (thus the Creole influence) who started the blackened craze, which led to over-fishing of redfish, which led to modern day limits on redfish, which irritates some fishermen to this day...but I digress.

I'd sub oregano for the basil. Also consider grinding up a little bay leaf and using it. I'm not sure how well paprika holds up to a high heat cook; but paprika certainly is a standard ingredient. You could experiment with other ground chiles. The other recommendation would be fry the fish in an iron skillet. You wrote that you grill it. The traditional method is to heat up your skillet until the oil smokes (the reason why I do mine outside)and fry the fish about 2 mins per side (depending on thickness of fillet). I oil the skillet and fillet and then sprinkle the rub onto the fillet. Choose an oil with a high smoke point like peanut, corn or refined canola.

Paul

Thanks for the info guys.

Paul, as a sportsman I'm sorry to hear what a single recipe did to a fishery. I hear your recommendation on the cast iron pan. I have a cast iron grate that is about 50% cast iron (vs. the spaces between the bars) and about 3/4" from top to bottom. It provides a lot of thermal mass so I think I'll give that a try the next time.

Jeff, I think I'll add some oregano and a little cumin to my blackening spice mix next time. BTW we were fishing practically in your back yard: lake Pepin just down stream from Red Wing.

Cumin doesn't work for me here, but that's my opinion. Paprika works as a bulking agent.

Prudhomme's recipe, which I used way back when, when it was nearly de rigueur to have blackened redfish on one's menu:

1 T sweet paprika
2 1/2 t salt
1 t onion powder
1 t garlic powder
1 t cayenne
3/4 t white pepper
3/4 t black pepper
1/2 t dried thyme leaves
1/2 t dried oregano leaves

[T=tablespoon; t=teaspoon; these are the basic ratios but quadruple (or more) the recipe - the fish should be dredged, not sprinkled]

A grill doesn't work well. This approach became rather common in restaurants, used either by chefs or cooks that didn't understand what they were doing or those that didn't have the necessary CI pans (or a good venting system).

Oil is not used either; the CI pan is heated until very hot, dry. The fish fillets (which should not be too thick) are dipped in melted butter, dredged well in the spice mix (it should NOT be sprinkled on - another bizarre change by the clueless) so that the seasoning forms a near-solid crust. The fillets - just one or two at a time, tops, for a large pan - get dipped in the butter, dredged well, then go into the pan, and then get drizzled lightly with more melted butter (about 1-2 tsp at most). When the underside is blackened and crisp the fillet is flipped, drizzled again, then cooked till crisp and blackened.

Using a grill, sprinkling on seasoning, etc., is not blackening, it's something else. One might very well like it but it isn't blackening. Try it sometime the original way and see what you think.

Hi Kevin,
Many thanks for taking the time to put down the detailed directions. What I have been making is most certainly not blackened fish (as much as I like it.) I'll have to do it the right way one of these days. Is there a particular fish or characteristics that you recommend for this style? Do you recommend trying this with other foods such as chicken, beef or pork?

thanks again,
hank

Like I said, if you like the result of the grilling approach, fine. One of the things that came out of blackening back in the 80s was the use of spice rubs on fish - even if grilled. This was very uncommon back then.

Do try the CI pan/butter approach some time.

Blackening can work for any almost any meat, poultry or fish in your kitchen with these characteristics - or made to have these characteristics:

<UL TYPE=SQUARE><LI>Not too thick. The cooking needs to be able to finish quickly, about 2 min per side, tops. Pound meat or poultry cuts thinner, if necessary, or simply cut horizontally first.

<LI>Not too large lengthwise or widthwise. The piece(s) need to fit in the pan. It is vital that one not crowd in the pan. There needs to be plenty of space around each item. Consider this during prep.

<LI>Nothing that needs extremely brief cooking or more lengthy cooking. [/list]

it should NOT be sprinkled on - another bizarre change by the clueless

Click to expand...

This is just my method and it has worked well for me. I represented it as such. Labeling it 'clueless' is a bit harsh IMO. Please keep in mind that 99% of us are not professionally trained and thus ask for support.

Paul

Sorry. Really I am.

I did not notice you had written that - my mistake. I was referring to those restaurateurs who glommed onto the blackened redfish craze that billed it as such that never had had it themselves, nor took the time to find out what it was. It was not the sprinkling on of spices and/or cooking on the grill that was or is an issue - as I noted, if you like this approach that's certainly fine - it was this on-the-bandwagon approach adopted by so many MOR (especially) establishments who had no clue what they were doing, not in terms of flavor, technique or finish. It was this push by the chains that caused the redfish population to decline.

My intention was not to upset you, or anyone else (well, unless you're the CEO od Applebee's or Chili's or one or the other chains that frequently ruin a good thing). Again, my apologies. It was not to you that I was referring.

Kevin,

I understand, not a problem.

Paul

Originally posted by K Kruger:
Cumin doesn't work for me here, but that's my opinion. Paprika works as a bulking agent.

Prudhomme's recipe, which I used way back when, when it was nearly de rigueur to have blackened redfish on one's menu:

1 T sweet paprika
2 1/2 t salt
1 t onion powder
1 t garlic powder
1 t cayenne
3/4 t white pepper
3/4 t black pepper
1/2 t dried thyme leaves
1/2 t dried oregano leaves

[T=tablespoon; t=teaspoon; these are the basic ratios but quadruple (or more) the recipe - the fish should be dredged, not sprinkled]

A grill doesn't work well. This approach became rather common in restaurants, used either by chefs or cooks that didn't understand what they were doing or those that didn't have the necessary CI pans (or a good venting system).

Oil is not used either; the CI pan is heated until very hot, dry. The fish fillets (which should not be too thick) are dipped in melted butter, dredged well in the spice mix (it should NOT be sprinkled on - another bizarre change by the clueless) so that the seasoning forms a near-solid crust. The fillets - just one or two at a time, tops, for a large pan - get dipped in the butter, dredged well, then go into the pan, and then get drizzled lightly with more melted butter (about 1-2 tsp at most). When the underside is blackened and crisp the fillet is flipped, drizzled again, then cooked till crisp and blackened.

Using a grill, sprinkling on seasoning, etc., is not blackening, it's something else. One might very well like it but it isn't blackening. Try it sometime the original way and see what you think.

Click to expand...

Thanks Kevin it is good stuff when done right !

The original reason Paul invented blackening is to get a grilled taste in his restaurant without having a grill. Do not, I repeat, do not blacken inside. The smoke will fill your house and the smoke alarms will drive you crazy. I had a friend who had the fire department called on her.

Hi Edwin,
That sounds like a good idea. I suppose that's a good use for a side burner on a gas grill.

I do intend to give Kevin's recipe a try but we still have to work off a backlog of turkey.

best,
hank

Using a nice CI pan heated over the grill though will place you out doors away from alarms and small indoor animals that might otherwise die from inhalation

Going to give this a try once I have some nice red fish again.

Don't blame anyone here if you try this indoors then walk around finding all of you pet birds on the bottom of their cages

Dogs will be down low enough and should survive well.

I hate to revive an old thread, but had to comment after reading Kevin's post. Calling anything with Cajun seasoning on it "blackened" is one of my major pet peeves. With one exception (the nephew of Paul Prudhomme has a restaurant about 30 minutes away) there really is no good source for Cajun/Creole cooking around here, but the positive is that I've learned to make it myself. A CI skillet right over the coals with make excellent blackened chicken or fish done just as Kevin described it. Like Ray alluded to, the real benefit to doing it outside is that you keep the absolutely nasty smoke from the spices burning out of your house.