Blackened Chicken and Grilled Asparagus

Image courtesy of simplerecipes.net

Blackened chicken is a classic Cajun dish and one that makes me drool just thinking about it!

Originally Blackened seasoning was invented using at hand regional ingredients to cook fish on the fly. The seasoning, however, is so distinctively tasty that it couldn't be confined to fish and has become much more popular on chicken, although it's also commonly used on steak, pork and even lamb. Might even be good on potatoes if you're feeling adventurous.

Blackened seasoning isn't actually black. It's a nice deep red, primarily from the paprika, and it's the sear that we give the meat that turns it black, although you don't have to have it black if you don't want to. As long as the meat gets a good bit of heat the flavours will combine and that lovely rich taste will pop out at you. If you have a dusty jar of Blackened seasoning in the cupboard that looks more grey than red, toss it out, it's way past due.




Hungry yet?


NOTE: Since my wife is a wuss heat sensitive I make this as a low heat spice. I will include in the ingredients optional items to amp up the burn, if that's your thing.

Serves 2

Special Materials
Cast iron fry pan or searing plate on the bbq (you can still do this recipe without either item)
Small casserole dish
Frying pan or BBQ

Ingredients
For Seasoning
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
4 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp paprika (or smoked paprika for a nice taste OR FOR HEAT use chili powder)
1 tsp finely ground black pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tbl sugar (I prefer brown, but white is fine)
FOR EXTRA HEAT add 1 tsp cayenne pepper
OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS (I use these in my mix, but it's up to you!)
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp celery salt
1 tsp dried oregano

Other ingredients
x2 Chicken breasts
x10 stalks asparagus (or however many you want to eat)
1/4 cup EVOO
1/4 cup melted butter
small handful of coarse sea salt


Directions
For seasoning
Mix all seasoning ingredients together in a bowl. Mix well. Tah-dah!

Everything else
1. Set oven to 325 F.
2. Get your cast iron skillet or searing plate ready for blackening, which means max heat for at least 7 minutes. No oils or nothing. If it's hot enough the chicken won't stick.  NOTE: This is essential for the blackening of the seasonings, but not essential to enjoy the meal. Don't blacken indoors unless you have an exhaust above your stove, it will smoke. The reason cast iron is recommended is that cast iron gets very hot and holds the heat evenly, and the high temperature required will not damage cast iron. Try and do this with your Rachel Ray non-stick skillet and you will regret it bitterly. Alternately you can use your regular old BBQ (mine is leaning distance from my back door) and crank the heat up to max for about 15 minutes before cooking - that should achieve a similar effect. If you are not going to do a full-on blackening then you can sear the meat by using a frying pan on max heat with a couple tablespoons of oil. Just cook the meat on each side until the colour begins to darken.
3. Pat chicken breasts dry with paper towel, dip in melted butter, then roll individually in the seasoning mix. Make sure that they are well coated and put them on a plate for a moment.
4. Prep the asparagus. It's easy to do this once you know the trick: hold both ends of the stalk and start to bend. The stalk will break off naturally at the bottom and the bit you break off is the woody bit you don't want to eat. Next put the asparagus on a plate and coat with the EVOO and salt. Mix it all around and put aside for a few moments.
5. Prep a frying pan for the asparagus by heating to medium high. If you are cooking the chicken in a frying pan you can use that one when you are done searing the chicken.
6. Sear the chicken. So as noted before that means putting the chicken on the cast iron grilling plate, or the searing plate or BBQ until the seasoning darkens (ideally to black), then flip to do the other side, then pull it off the heat. The actual black stuff is crispy seasoning mix and it tastes awesome!
7. Throw the blackened breasts into the casserole dish and put it into the oven until clear juice runs out when you poke the chicken with a fork, about 8 - 12 minutes.
8. Chuck the asparagus into the frying pan (or better yet, onto the BBQ) cook for about 10 minutes, turning frequently, until the stalk droops when picked up at the middle. You don't want it to get too soft.

Serve together with a nice salad, or some rice and enjoy!