Blackened Chicken
To perfect the blackening technique for food, you must be prepared for a lot smoke and sometimes a few flames. This is why we chose to prepare our blackened chicken on the grill outside; we didn't set off smoke alarms or have to open all the windows and doors!
To create an authentic blackened crust you need three pieces of equipment: A source of intense heat, like an outdoor grill, a cast iron skillet or cast iron cooking plate, and a very thick oven mitt. Don't try to use a regular skillet, because you will ruin it for sure.
It's incorrectly assumed that all the blackening comes from charring the spices on the outside of the meat, but if that were true it would mean the spices had burned. The char comes from blackening the milk solids in the butter that is used to adhere the spices to the meat. Burnt spices are not tasty at all.
Since we fired up the grill, we threw on some corn to accompany the chicken. This is a great way to prepare an entire meal outside when it is just too warm to heat up the kitchen.
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 Tablespoons Blackened Seasoning
- Preheat grill to high heat and place cast iron on the grill to preheat. Pan needs to be very hot.
- Pound each chicken breast down to about 1/2 inch thickness - they will cook a little faster if they are thinner.
- In a microwave safe dish, melt butter and add Blackened Seasoning.
- Coat each chicken piece in the butter/spice mixture and place directly into the hot cast iron pan. There is no need to coat the pan with cooking oil. The quick cooking and high heat should prevent the chicken from sticking if your cast iron is properly seasoned.
- Cook about 2-3 minutes on each side, until the coating is charred and chicken is cooked through. There should be a lot of smoke during the cooking process.
- Be EXTREMELY careful handling the pan on the grill - use very thick oven mitts or hot pads when handling the pan. Allow pan to cool completely before moving it to another surface.