Blackened fish

SilverSage

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Blackened halibut with mango-lime salsa, on a bed of sauteed spinach.
 

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SilverSage

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Re: What's On Our Plates Sunday 14 June - Saturday 20

Dan, your steak dinner looks incredible!

Kathy, how/where did you cook the blackened halibut? I tried doing it on top of the stove in a cast iron pan and set the smoke detectors off. Fire department came. (Your spinach looks absolutely perfectly cooked!)

Lee

Blackening has as more to do with the spices than with very high heat. Back your heat down to just med-high, especially for something thin and delicate like fish.

I don't use cast iron for it. In a regular tri-ply, if it's getting too hot, I can lift the pan off the heat and quickly drop the temp. Cast iron holds the heat too well. If it start to burn, I can't do much about it.
 
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Sass Muffin

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Re: What's On Our Plates Sunday 14 June - Saturday 20

Okay, well I'll try that - thanks, SS! I have a seasoning mix.

Lee

What seasoning mix do you use or have?
I'm curious because I'm going to be preparing channel catfish.
Possibly soon.
 

SilverSage

Resident Crone
Re: What's On Our Plates Sunday 14 June - Saturday 20

Here's my blend. This isn't too terribly spicy because Judy doesn't like too much, but I do. So it's a compromise heat level. If you want, bump up the cayenne and pepper, or just use more.

1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp garlic powder (not salt)
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp salt

Pat the fish dry and press in the rub on both sides. Use plenty of oil or it will stick. Flip only once. I use a medium high heat (7 out of 10 on the induction stove).

This coats about 4 servings. My idea of a serving is about 6 ounces, so adjust accordingly.
 

QSis

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I moved these posts to a new thread so we can find it again.

I thought I had a storebought blackened seasoning mix (Paul Prudhomme's), but I must have tossed it after a decade or two.

I'll use SilverSage's.

Lee
 

medtran49

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I moved these posts to a new thread so we can find it again.

I thought I had a storebought blackened seasoning mix (Paul Prudhomme's), but I must have tossed it after a decade or two.

I'll use SilverSage's.

Lee

I've got the recipe for his blackening seasoning from a cookbook pre commercially made and sold. Want it?

Craig does it outside on a propane burner in a cast iron skillet, with butter, just like PP's directions in the book.
 

QSis

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I've got the recipe for his blackening seasoning from a cookbook pre commercially made and sold. Want i
Craig does it outside on a propane burner in a cast iron skillet, with butter, just like PP's directions in the book.

Oh, how cool!!!

Yes, I'd love Paul's recipe!

Thanks, Karen!

Lee
 

medtran49

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For six 8-10 ounce fish fillets, pompano, redfish, red snapper, i.e. fairly thin pieces.

1 Tbsp sweet paprika
2-1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
3/4 tsp white pepper
3/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried oregano

3 sticks of butter, no the 3 is not a typo, he liked his butter

Mix the seasoning ingredients thoroughly.

Heat a large cast iron skillet over very high heat until you can see whitish ashes, i.e. white hot.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a skillet, then pour 2 Tbsp melted butter in 6 small bowls, set aside. Leave the rest of the butter in the skillet.

Dip each fillet in the butter in the skillet so that both sides are coated, then sprinkle seasoning mix generously and evenly over the fillets, patting each side so that seasoning adheres.

Places the fillets in the skillet and drizzle 1 tsp butter on each fillet. Cook for about 2 minutes. Turn over and repeat with the butter, cooking about 2 minutes more.

Remove fillets and serve on a warmed plate with the reserved 2 Tbsp of butter on the side.
 
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medtran49

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Craig has also done grouper this way, just lower heat some and cook a little longer.
 

SilverSage

Resident Crone
Thank you Andy & Lorellei.

When you blacken fish (or anything), it's not the flesh that's blackening, it's the spices, more specifically the paprika. K-Paul used thin filets of redfish or pompano, so a couple minutes of cooking was all it took to both blacken the paprika and cook the fish through.

If you are using anything thicker than about a half inch, it will blacken beyond the paprika and actually burn the flesh before it gets cooked through. That's when you get fire alarms in the kitchen. Even Paul says in his recipe that for thicker pieces, you need to turn the heat down. You need to give it a chance to cook through before you go from black spice to burnt food. I was using a nice thick piece of halibut, so I backed off on the heat.

I would have liked to take it a step darker, but the fish was cooked through and there's nothing worse than overcooked fish!

As far as the spice blend, most are all pretty similar. Most recipes call for sweet paprika - since I usually cook it on the stove instead of over flame, I think the smoked paprika adds something otherwise missing. I rarely have white pepper on hand, so I just increase the black pepper. I know that white pepper adds a certain 'fruitiness', but it doesn't keep its pungency for long, so I usually don't buy it.

I remember when we often had longer discussions like this on a topic, with all our different experiences. Daily dinner is nice, but these threads are what made the forum fun.

Oh, and my picture is turned sideways for some unknown reason. I guess I forgot how to upload it correctly.
 

QSis

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Great posts, SS! I agree - the threads on a particular dish or ingredient are my favorites as well. Stick around, please!

Peep, thanks for the pic fix!

Lee
 

Adillo303

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Thank you Silver Sage for both the recipe and the education.

It got me thinking. When grilling steak, I warm the meat to about 90 degrees prior to
putting it on the grill. I get grill marks and not burned dried out steak.

In your opinion, would this also work with fish?
Thank You - Andy
 

SilverSage

Resident Crone
Andy, I'm not really much of a griller. I would think either Lee or Karen/Craig would know more about that.
 

QSis

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Thank you Silver Sage for both the recipe and the education.

It got me thinking. When grilling steak, I warm the meat to about 90 degrees prior to
putting it on the grill. I get grill marks and not burned dried out steak.

In your opinion, would this also work with fish?
Thank You - Andy

I am not an expert on cooking fish, Andy, but my friend, Mr. Google, says to leave the fish at room temp. for 15-20 minutes before cooking.

:weber:

Lee
 

medtran49

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Me either, we really don't eat that much fish now that we don't dive anymore, but it stands to reason you would since that's they way you are supposed to treat animal proteins,
 

Adillo303

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I will give it a try. Tonight, I got an hour and a half notice that I had to produce califlower - bacon - cheddar potato salad and grilled salmon. No time to learn, just heads down get it done. It was delishous though.
 
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