Blackened Fish

Warning: You must do this recipe outside or under a commercial vent hood. There is risk of fire. To get that blackened look and taste, you must fire up the skillet to near rocket-hot. To get the skillet that hot, you have to have the stove high enough that it could cause a flame up when the butter hits the pan. Just be careful.

When I cooked mine, I too the surface temperature of the skillet at 550 degrees.

• 2 thin white fish fillets
• 2 Tsp. black pepper
• 2 Tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1 Tsp. salt
• 1 Tsp. garlic powder
• 1 Tsp. ground thyme
• 1 stick butter

On a grill or other type of stove outdoors, heat an iron skillet to rocket hot. This skillet cannot be hot enough. In a small bowl, mix the spices together. Rub generously on the fish fillets.

Melt 3/4 of the stick of butter in a small glass or ceramic dish. Dip the fillets in the melted butter then take them directly to the hot skillet. As soon as the fish goes down, put 1 TBSP of the remaining butter on each fillet.

Cook for 2 minutes on the first side, then, using a spatula, flip each fillet over and cook another 2 minutes. That should be all it takes to get this done.