Recipe Cajun Blackened Grouper

[Mountain Cat]

Actually, you can use any firm-bodied white fish.

I’d never eaten grouper prior to making this dish in 2016 — I picked up two filets, and got sticker shock at the cash register. (Always pays to ask if prices aren’t posted. Duh.) But, okay, something new...

Sizzle me good!

It turns out there are a lot of species of fish named grouper — they’re pretty much all in the same two genera of fish, Epinephelus and Mycteroperca. A lot of them live in the Pacific and some live in the Persian Gulf, and they all look pretty ugly, being all mouth.

Anyhow, I made one of these blackened and spicy, in honor of Mardi Gras. And Mardi Gras reminds me of New Orleans, which I visited twice, but neither time at Mardi Gras. Halloween 2003 was more than plenty large for me. The previous time had been for a business conference in June in the mid-90’s, and I could see why they all come out at night. The daytime weather even in June is horrid. You could cut it with a knife, blacken it, and serve it. (The male attendees at the convention were nearly all dressed in shorts, even the presenters.)

It turns out blackened seafood isn’t really an old Cajun tradition — apparently the late Paul Prudhomme of New Orleans had something to do with the development and popularization of this dish. That’s okay; we’re living FAT!

Prep Time: To make the Blackened Spice Mix: 10 minutes. To prep the fish: 2 minutes plus 15 minutes to marinate.
Cook Time: 6-7 minutes on a hot George Foreman Grill (fish about 1 inch thick)
Rest Time: 3-5 minutes.
Serves 2.
Special Equipment: George Foreman (or similar) grill. (You can use a pan in a regular outdoor grill, or pan fry medium high, covered, too.)

Cajun Blackened Grouper

For the Blackening Seasoning (this makes extra, seal and store for future use):

• 3 teaspoons smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon chili powder (medium hot, or otherwise)
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Mix it all together and store with your other spices.

For the Cajun Blackened Fish:

• 1.25 pounds of grouper (or other sturdy whitefish) filet.
• 1 teaspoon oil (avocodo is good)
• 2 teaspoons of the above Blackening Seasoning (after your first experiment, you may find you want to vary this up or down).
• Lemon wedges for garnish. Fresh parsley would be fun, too.

I left the skin on the grouper — helps keep the fish together and easy enough to remove when you are eating it.

1. Pre-heat your George Foreman or other (outdoor) grill.
2. Rub the fish, both sides, with the oil, removing excess.
3. On the non-skin side, add the Blackening seasoning, and rub it in. You do not need to coat the other side, but if you do have a fish filet with no skin, rub both sides — there’s no need to add extra unless you like this REALLY hot.
4. Place, skin side down, into the George Foreman (or regular grill), and let ‘er rip for 6-7 minutes, assuming your filet is as mine was, nearly an inch thick in the thickest section. It is recommended that you roll the thin flap of filet which would be near the fish’s tail up, so that portion doesn’t overcook. (I tried to do that, but the fish flattened out when I closed the lid. Didn’t seem to matter much with this fish, anyway.)
5. Serve with lemon garnish.

A note on the heat: This turned out just right, for me. I have friends who’d prefer their food milder, and friends who’d prefer hotter so take that into consideration when you apply the above blend. (Also, the freshness of your herbs and spices will matter.)

Serving suggestions: Mustard greens or fresh spinach, sauteed in butter and fresh garlic, barely wilted, with a dollop or two of hot sauce mixed in at the last moment.

Leftovers: Enjoy in a salad.

All prepped up and ready to cook

This recipe owes a lot to hopping around the Internet to learn there’s no true standardized ratio of herbs and spices for Cajun seasoning, but I borrowed most heavily from: Big Daddy’s Blackened Tilapia. And here’s the platter!

Related
Mardi Gras: Roasted Creole Pork Belly CasseroleIn "Cooking"
Mardi Gras: Creole SeasoningIn "Condiments"
Mardi Gras Creole: Mussels, Andouille, Okra, RiceIn "Cooking"

 

[Morning Glory]

I like this a lot. I can see it working well with white fish I can get here.

 

[rascal]

About 25 years ago , son was about 15 and our last family Xmas break. He came with us to Nelson, 5 hrs north of here in central South Island. I decided to take son deep sea fishing. So we took the ferry across to Wellington then drove to gisborne in the north island. Then I arranged to go out from tolaga bay. The boat took us miles out to sea and the skipper had a spot on gps. Within minutes we were catching groper. Lots of groper , that much my arms hurt winding them in. We must have caught about 40. Huge fish. We finally went back to land and not having refrigeration in our motel, I gave the fish to the skipper, I took one back to,the owners of the motel. I kept a fillet for myself and I fried it. The skipper was over the moon. He got 100s of dollars of fish plus the charter fee.
I can either take or leave the fish, but I do love blue cod. I eat blue cod regularly.

Russ

 

[Backbay]

Grouper is probably one of my favorite fish to eat. Mountain Cat, your preparation looks delicious. Thank you for posting.

 

[caseydog]

I like this a lot. I can see it working well with white fish I can get here.

In the NOLA area, the fish commonly used is red snapper from the Gulf of Mexico. I could see Haddock working with this technique. Any mild flakey white fish should work.

If you don't have the aforementioned George Foreman grill, you can grill over charcoal, or use a cast-iron pan. Just make sure you can open some windows if you use the CI pan indoors, if you don't want to smell it for days.

As MC mentioned, "blackened" cajun food is a modern NOLA tradition, not something from hundreds of years ago. It went crazy in the 1990s, IIRC.

I like it, if it is served to me, I can't say I order it from a menu full of NOLA classics. But, do think it would make a nice new experience for an adventurous Brit.

CD

 

[CraigC]

I have to do mine on one of my propane burners. It involves a white hot CI pan and butter (Paul's recipe). The smoke/fumes from the butter and spices aren't something you want to breathe. I use black grouper. I use the thicker part of the filet. Paul's original recipe caused a huge decline in the redfish (red drum) population in the local area.