Now it's time to start doing something with all those beautiful spices...
No, these pork chops are not burnt... They are blackened. Sadly, many restaurants have confused blackening seasonings with blackened. Blackened is a cooking process, made popular by Paul Prudhomme! It is a way to infuse and caramelize spices with butter and cook meat. The collection of spices used would be more accurately called Cajun spiced if you do not use a flash frying method followed by gentle baking... But I digress...
Soon, I will blog the recipe and technique for making these blackened chops, but today... just the rub.
A Cajun rub is very versatile. Not as hot as it's reputation would suggest, but certainly enough to know you are eating something special. I prefer to make my own, especially without salt. There is plenty of salt in our everyday food. Highly overrated (in my opinion), and more often than not, not needed. And especially if you are trying to cut back on dangerous quantities of salt.
You can use this rub to spice up just about any cut of meat, and sprinkling some on grilled fruit and veggies makes a special dish really pop.
here's what I did...
1/4 cups Sweet Paprika
1 TBS Garlic Flakes
1 TBS Onion Flakes
1 TBS Dried Thyme Leaves
1 TBS Dired Oregano
1 TBS Black Pepper
2 TBS White Pepper
2 tsp (TEAspoons) Cayenne Pepper
1 tsp Ground Bay Leaves
Go ahead, mix by hand...
Did you pay attention to the quantities? Biggest quantity was Sweet Paprika (yes, paprika is a pepper, but not a hot hot pepper). There is a bite to this, it is Cajun after all, but not the killer quantities that people expect.
Isn't this pretty??? I tripled the recipe, as I use this mix a lot. From eggs in the morning, to grilled pineapple to (of course) meat... Cajun spice is very versatile.
The spices stay fresh for about 6 months. I store in a ziplock bag in the refrigerator (cool dark place, assuming that little light bulb does indeed go out when the door is closed... Who really knows for sure???). Mark the bag and date it.
And stay tuned to see my instructions for blackening pork chops and fish... It really is impressive!
A blackening seasoning is very versatile. However, I have never thought of putting it on fruit. I can imagine the flavor being perfect for the already great taste of pineapple. This one I will have to try soon!! Maybe on top of a blackened pork chop?
ReplyDeleteOh , this fabulous rub looks great! You are really making me want to grill up some blackened pork chops and steaks. Think I WILL!! Merci beaucoup, cher!
ReplyDeleteYou're the man learning all the really good tricks - making your own combos is the best!
ReplyDeleteOK, compared to the restaurant dish you posted earlier, this definitely looks better!
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