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Wednesday, August 24, 2022

How I Blacken Chicken on the Grill (or fish, scallops, etc)

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I recently had this dish at Lakeside Tavern in Knoxville and liked it so much that I decided to recreate it at home. It is blackened chicken breast, and andouille sausage smothered in their signature creole sauce with red and green bell peppers, served on a bed of jasmine rice. 

Here’s how mine turned out...

Plate of blackened chicken, double smoked sausage, peppers, dirty rice, and Voodoo cream sauce
My version features double-smoked sausage, blackened chicken thighs, pepper melange, Voodoo cream sauce, and dirty rice.


Before I get into that recipe, let’s talk about blackened food. I think most people’s experience with blackened food is seeing BURNT food and joking that it’s “blackened.” That couldn’t be further from the truth.

What is Blackened Food?

Blackening is a technique pioneered by Chef Paul Prudhomme. It involves cooking food over high heat with butter and a flavorful seasoning to create a dark-as-night crust that is NOT BURNT. The food should be tangy and spicy, not acrid and ashy.

blackening chicken in a cast iron skillet on the grill
The black part of blackened foods comes from the seasoning and milk fats in the butter cooked over high temperatures.

 

How to Blacken Fish, Chicken, and Other Foods

In my experience, there are 3 main elements for blackening food. Paul Prudhomme’s technique involves dredging food in butter and through his blackening seasoning, then cooking it over high heat.
  • Butter – Butter is the key because half of the “blackening” comes from the milk fats in the butter cooking over high heat. You will not get that from cooking oil, pork fat, tallow, or even clarified butter. You dredge the food through melted (NOT CLARIFIED) butter and season it heavily. I also use butter in the skillet as well.
  • Seasoning – The seasoning should be herbal, garlicky, and have the Cajun pepper power trio of black, red, and white ground pepper. Paul Prudhomme’s recipe is online, or you can use your favorite recipe. My go-to is Meat Church Holy Voodoo, which is not billed as a blackening seasoning but works as one.
  • Hot Cast Iron – The technique's creator used cast iron skillets for a reason – you need complete contact between food, butter, and hot metal. So, I like to use a skillet or griddle on the grill. Grilling chicken seasoned with blackening seasoning is not blackened chicken in the same way that chicken baked in an oven and slathered with BBQ sauce is not BBQ chicken.
Let's take a look at these elements in practice...

blackened chicken thighs, smoked sausage, and peppers with creole sauce and dirty rice


Lakeside Tavern Style Cajun Chicken and Sausage

www.nibblemethis.com

Published 08/05/2022

Blackened chicken, spicy smoked sausage, grilled peppers and onions, Voodoo cream sauce, and dirty rice.

Ingredients

  • 12 ounces Conecuh Cajun sausage
  • 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
  • 1/4 cup butter, melted
  • Meat Church Holy Voodoo Seasoning
  • 1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
  • 1 green bell pepper, seeded and sliced
  • 1 sweet onion, peeled and sliced
  • 1 tablespoon peanut or other high temp cooking oil
  • 1 recipe Dirty Rice
  • garnish:  finely minced parsley
For the Voodoo Cream Sauce
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 3 tablespoons flour
  • 1.5 cups half and half
  • 2-3 tablespoons Meat Church Holy Voodoo (or other Cajun seasoning)
  • 1 tablespoon paprika
  • 1 ounce fresh lemon juice
  • salt to taste about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon

Instructions

  1. Smoke the Sausage. Place the sausage in a smoker running at 225°f until browned on the outside, and it reaches an internal temp of 165°f, about 1 hour. Remove from heat and keep warm.
  2. Make the Voodoo Cream Sauce. Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed skillet, whisk in flour and continue whisking until the mixture turns light brown, about 10 minutes. Whisk in the cream, lemon juice, Holy Voodoo, and paprika. Bring to a light simmer until thickened. Add salt to taste, and remove from heat.
  3. Preheat the skillet or griddle plate for at least 10 minutes before cooking the chicken.
  4. Grill the Veggies.  Toss the peppers and onions in a tablespoon of oil. Place in a grilling basket over medium-high heat until tender and slightly charred on the edges, about 5-7 minutes.
  5. Prep the chicken. Trim off any excess fat or gristle. Brush or dip the chicken in the melted butter and season liberally with Holy Voodoo.  I didn't measure, I just went for a moderate to a heavy coat, probably about 2 tablespoons total, but that's a guess. 
  6. Blacken the chicken. I use a non-contact thermometer to make sure my skillet is rocket hot, at least at 500°f. Carefully pour the leftover butter into the skillet; it will put on a smoke show. Add the chicken and cook for 5 minutes on the first side until the first side is dark.  Flip and cook until the chicken thighs reach 165-170°f, about 3 to 5 minutes on the second side. Remove from heat.
  7. Plate the dish.  Place the dirty rice in a small bowl and invert it on the plate to form a small timbale (see pics). Spoon sauce onto the plate around the rice. Top with sliced sausage, sliced chicken, and pepper mix. Garnish with finely minced parsley. 

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 30 mins.

Cook time: 30 mins.

Total time: 60 mins.

Tags: blackened, Cajun, skillet, chicken


Lakeside Tavern's Cajun Chicken and Sausage
Here's the actual dish that inspired my recipe. It tasted way better than it looks in this picture. I came home and wrote two full paragraphs about the dish and how I'd recreate it.

Here is what I did differently than theirs:
  • I double-smoked the sausage and used Conecuh instead of Andouille.
  • I used chicken thighs instead of breasts.
  • I served mine with dirty rice instead of Jasmine rice.

The Oklahoma Joe's Rider makes it easy to switch between direct and indirect heat
I used the Oklahoma Joe's Rider DLX pellet grill for this one because I needed a good bit of working room and I wanted to easily switch between direct and indirect heat. 

I have been using the Kingsford hickory, oak, and cherry pellets a good bit this summer.
I have been using the Kingsford hickory, oak, and cherry pellets a good bit this summer. My typical go to on wood smokers is a hickory-cherry blend so this just makes sense. I also like Grilla's oak-hickory-cherry blend.

Double smoked cajun sausage on the Oklahoma Joe's Rider dlx
First I gave the smoked Cajun sausage a second smoke, just for good measure.

My go-to for smoked sausage is Conechuh Cajun Smoked Sausage.
My go-to for smoked sausage is Conechuh Cajun Smoked Sausage.

While the sausage was smoking, I took advantage of the Rider's bountiful room. I preheated the skillet for the chicken, the veggie wok, and melted the butter.
While the sausage was smoking, I took advantage of the Rider's bountiful room. I preheated the skillet for the chicken, the veggie wok, and melted the butter.

I cooked the peppers and onions until they were tender and had a bit of char on the edges. Lakeside just used peppers but I liked the idea of using onions too.

The thermapen IR can give readings for both internal food and surfaces.
High heat is key to blackening food so give your cast iron plenty of time to preheat. I make sure my skillet is ready by using the non-contact thermometer on my Thermapen-IR. This Thermapen gives both super-fast internal temperature readings and surface temperature readings; it is indispensable if you use a griddle or skillets often.
Thermoworks Thermapen-IR [Affiliate Link]

Lodge melting pot is great for sauces and butter
Our friend and partner-in-crime, Kim from It's All So Yummy Cafe gave me this killer Lodge small pot. It's perfect for warming sauces or in this case, melting butter on the grill.
Lodge Cast Iron Melting Pot [Affiliate Link]

You want the milk fats and solids so don't clarify the butter.
Typically when I melt butter, I clarify it by skimming off the fat and solids but not in this case. You WANT the fats and solids for blackening.

Meat Church Holy Voodoo isn't a blackening seasoning per se, but it absolutely works as one.

After tying the recipe both ways, I decided that boneless skinless chicken thighs were a better option than BLSL breast halves. They have more flavor and handle the high heat better.
After tying the recipe both ways, I decided that boneless skinless chicken thighs were a better option than BLSL breast halves. They have more flavor and handle the high heat better. I pat them dry and then brush them with melted butter for the binder and oil.

I didn't measure but I did lay down a heavy coat of the seasoning. This with the butter is what will form your crust.

Blackening food SHOULD throw off a lot of smoke, which is a primary reason a lot of people cook it outside. If cooking it inside, you might want to temporarily disarm your smoke alarms. 

Like I said, I have tried this dish with chicken breasts. It was still good; thighs are just more forgiving.

Blackened chicken on the grill
I'm crushing that crust! That's the black gold you want. Not burned but absolutely dark.

These thighs also make amazing blackened chicken sliders.


Checking the internal temp using my Thermapen IR
I pull my thighs at a much higher temp than I do for breasts. I aim for 170 for thighs whereas I do 160f for chicken breasts. 

As the smaller thighs got done first, I would shuffle them to the upper rack to stay warm.

Here's the dish that I made the first time, using chicken breasts...

...and thighs. We definitely liked the thighs better. I also didn't develop my roux long enough so my cream sauce was woefully pale on the first attempt.

The final result was a home run, one of the best meals I have made this year. So much flavor, a building heat, diverse textures, and the Voodoo cream sauce was "George Takei Oh My" good.