Name: Pan-fried Blackened Rockfish
Prep time: 15 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 1 lb. fresh rockfish fillets (or Pacific cod, red snapper or striped bass 1/2'-3/4" thick); 1/2 batch Rockfish Dry Rub Mix; 2-4 tablespoons vegetable oil

Spicy Pan-fried Blackened Rockfish

January 6 By Renée ♥ 25 Comments

Seasoned with smokey paprika and three kinds of dried peppers, this Spicy Pan-fried Blackened Rockfish has just the right amount of kick!

This post may contain affiliate links, but don’t worry – they won’t bite.

This savory Blackened Rockfish with Kale Caesar Salad from Skillet was my favorite bite at the 2015 IFBC Culinary Expo. The spicy dry rub, seasoned with paprika and three kinds of dried peppers, has just the kind of kick Mr. B and I love. In fact, I loved it so much that I contacted the nice folks at Skillet Street Food asked for permission to share their Dry Rub recipe here, which they very kindly granted.

A fresh Caesar salad on the side (traditional or kale) makes the perfect companion dish, quelling the dry rub’s heat without putting out the fire.

Once you mix up the dry rub, pan-frying the rockfish is a snap! You can literally have this made and on the table in 20 minutes; less if you have the dry rub already mixed up.

Pan-fried Blackened Rockfish

Seasoned with smokey paprika and three kinds of dried peppers, this Spicy Pan-fried Blackened Rockfish has just the right amount of kick!

Course Main Dish

Prep Time 15 minutes

Servings 4

Author Renée B. ♥ The Good Hearted Woman

Ingredients

1 lb. fresh rockfish fillets or Pacific cod, red snapper or striped bass 1/2'-3/4" thick
1/2 batch Rockfish Dry Rub Mix
2-4 tablespoons vegetable oil

Instructions

Heat cast iron or heavy skillet over medium heat until a water droplet sizzles on the surface, then add enough vegetable oil to lightly cover bottom of skillet.
Coat both sides of each fish fillet with the dry rub mix and place into the heated skillet.
Fry on first side for about 3 minutes, or until the bottom of the fish is nicely browned.
Turn over with tongs and brown the other side for 2 to 3 minutes more, until the flesh is firm and opaque.
Remove the fillets from the skillet with tongs and drain on paper towels.

Recipe Notes

This pairs well with a Caesar Salad.

Since first making this dry rub, I’ve tried the Spicy Skillet Dry Rub on Pacific Cod, red snapper and striped bass; as well as everything from everything from roasted vegetables to barbecued steak, and have never been disappointed.

Some of the ingredients for the dry rub were initially a little hard to locate, but once I figured out where to find them, it was a piece of cake.

Let me save you some time: you will find the ground pasilla pepper and ground New Mexico chili pepper in the Mexican/Hispanic foods aisle of most grocery stores (in my area, Winco, Freddy’s, and Safeway all stock them) or in your local Hispanic Mercado (i.e., Su Casa Imports, El Mercado, etc). I found the ground chipotle pepper in the bulk section at Winco. All of the dried ground peppers are very inexpensive and the recipe makes a lot of dry rub, so it will go a long way.

Spicy Skillet Dry Rub

Course Condiment

Prep Time 5 minutes

Total Time 5 minutes

Author Skillet, Seattle, WA [IFBC 2015]

Ingredients

5 tablespoons smoked paprika
1 tablespoons garlic salt
2 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
1 tablespoons ground pasilla pepper
2 teaspoons ground chipotle pepper
1 tablespoons ground New Mexico chili pepper
1/2 tablespoon ground mustard powder
5 teaspoons white granulated sugar
2 tablespoons kosher salt

Instructions

Mix all ingredients. Store in an air-tight container.

Recipe Notes

Ingredient Substitution: If you don't have all the dried peppers on hand, just substitute 3 tablespoons of regular chili powder for the ground pasilla, chipotle, and New Mexico chili peppers.

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Taste of Seattle & Gourmet Fair {IFBC Recap: Part 2}

October 20 By Renée ♥ 4 Comments

After a hectic day of sponsored meals and learning sessions at IFBC, Saturday evening presented us a welcome opportunity to unwind, relax, schmooze and nosh. Seattle’s best chefs and restaurants, along with local vintners, culinary vendors, and cookbook writers, stirred up some amazing culinary creations and gastronomic goodies in an effort to wow the Foodie crowd.

Me with Portlanders Maddie R. and Jana S. in the Urbanspoon photobooth at IFBC

Mary Platis and Laura Bashar absolutely knocked it out of the park with this Olive Oil Lemon Curd, from their book “Cooking Techniques and Recipes With Olive Oil.” (Priscilla Willis, of She’s Cooking, shares the recipe here) Sushi, by its very nature, is as much a feast for the eyes as the palate, but some offerings at A Taste of Seattle transcended one’s normal expectation of beauty and reached for Magnificent. Thai Style Fried Chicken & Waffles? Yes, please!! Made with local, hormone-free chicken, Seattle’s Kaisho served up a a savory, sweet sample that put a whole new spin on comfort. Probably my favorite bite of the night (and the one I’m most likely to try to copy in the future!) This amazing mussel-shell dress was one of the stunning pieces from Seattle fashion artist Fortunate Nora that made an appearance at A Taste. Another stand-out bite was this slider from the Westin’s own Relish Burger Bistro. The grape tomato topped gave it a great pop of freshness, color and flavor. See those little unassuming plastic cups that are dwarfed by the giant burger ice sculpture? Those are tiny root beer floats made with cardamom ice cream! Delish! (If you want to try making some at home, check this recipe from Girlichef.)

After finishing up at A Taste of Seattle, a few of us topped the evening off with a very entertaining night at Hula Hula, a local karaoke bar, where Jana S (Merlot Mommy) and Nicole J. demonstrated that cooking is only one of their many talents. But that’s another story for another day. 🙂

Bottom line – would I recommend IFBC to my food blogger friends? Absolutely! I sampled some delicious, inspiring cuisine, took home an armload of Evernotes for review, met some fantastic people, connected with a few brands that I’m very excited about, and overall had a fantastic time. In fact, I’ve already signed up for next year!

Cupcakes & Salmon & Swag – Oh My! {IFBC Recap: Part 1}

October 14 By Renée ♥ 8 Comments

I traveled to my first International Food Bloggers Conference in Seattle last month by train, and I just couldn’t start this post without showing you this lovely image of Portland’s Union Station.

Whenever I am in the train station, especially in the early morning hours, I find myself humming Simon & Garfunkel…

“…When I left my home and my family,
I was no more than a boy
In the company of strangers,
In the quiet of the railway station,
runnin’ scared, laying low
Seeking out the poorer quarters,
where the ragged people go,
Looking for the places only they would know…

Love that song.

Sorry. Back to IFBC. Held in the beautiful Westin Hotel in downtown Seattle, I shared a room on the 32nd floor with one of my favorite fellow PDX food bloggers, Jana, the Merlot Mommy. Check out our view of Puget Sound!

IFBC officially kicked off with an opulent Grand Opening Reception, hosted by Raincoast Crisps, Bristol Bay Sustainable Salmon and Accolade Wines.

The Reception Hall was literally lined with decadently beautiful mini-cupcakes and dreamy little desserts. The mango trifle was my personal favorite – a smooth, creamy bite of tropical-heaven.

Nevertheless, desserts notwithstanding, the selection that held my fascination was the one thing that stands between me and vegetarianism: Salmon. Red, healthy, sustainable Alaskan salmon. Sweet, savory, tender salmon. From one end of the 40-foot banquet table to the other.

Oh. My.

I almost cried, I was so happy. Salmon cakes. Vodka soaked salmon. (Yes, it was amazing. Thank you for asking.) And this one-of-a-kind salmon dish created especially for IFBC – mixture of salmon, corn, wasabi peas, zesty little cracker rounds, cilantro, and an (as yet undetermined) dressing – was hands-down my favorite. I’m working on getting the recipe, or at least the ingredient list, to share with you.

Adjacent to the Grand Opening Reception was the Gift Suite, or more accurately, the Swag Room. Wow! I was so glad I was carpooling home, because there was a lot for swag for the taking. (See that California Endive below? The samples that I brought home will be showing up in one of our new family favorites in tomorrow’s recipe post!)

There were so many awesome brands represented with so much cool swag that it is impossible for me to pick a clear favorite. Maybe the Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Beans from Rodelle? (Yes! Free gourmet vanilla beans! Does life get any better than that!?!) Or how about the 4-in-1 zester from Crisp? Or the completely addictive small-batch crackers from Raincoast Crisps? I could go one for ten paragraphs about just the swag at IFBC. Amazing.

But there was one stand-out. For many reasons, one of my favorite take-homes of the night came from Aneto Natural. These folks came all the way from Spain to share their product with us, and they brought every one of us a cheery yellow-checked apron, each personalized with the name of our blog.

Wow.

I took some time to talk with one their representatives. and I loved how passionate they were about their product, and how completely dedicated they seemed to be about meeting every blogger they could one-on-one. They showed an amazing generosity of spirit, and that is worth a lot in my book. (I’ll be posting a recipe using their Paella Base next week.)

Moving On.

Saturday morning started early with a breakfast hosted by Noosa Yoghurt, one of my favorite discoveries at IFBC. Our tables were covered with ingredients for making ourselves a yoghurt parfait. While we spooned away daintily at our picture perfect creations, we listened to Noosa founder, Aussie Koel Thomae, share with us how she started Noosa after moving to the US, and why her yoghurt is so unique.

“We are defining a new market for yoghurt – the indulgent yogurt.” {Koel Thomas}

Indulgent is right! Wow! So creamy and thick, Noosa Yoghurt is made with whole milk and fresh ingredients. I found it to as filling as it was delicious, so while it may have more calories per bite, you won’t need as many to fill you up, I guarantee. Noosa was debuting its new Pumpkin flavor at IFBC, and I tried it. Very, very good. And I probably would have had more, except that I could stop eating the coconut flavor. (As further evidence that I am completely in love with Noosa, it should be noted that I made a trip to New Seasons the day I got home, just to buy some more.)

The rest of the day was filled with learning opportunities. Here are some of the highlights:

Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg, award-winning authors of (among others) The Flavor Bible, delivered the keynote address. (The Flavor Bible is the first known comprehensive reference of compatible flavors. ) Their newest book, The Vegetarian Flavor Bible, debuts in two days, on October 14th. (I’ll be posting a review of the e-book version next week, and giving away a free copy too!)

Leading up to lunch, we enjoyed a very entertaining cooking demo with Thierry Rautureau, The Chef In The Hat, and sampled duck confit sliders with huckleberry demi-glace, a popular small plate at his new restaurant, Loulay. I found our time with Chef Rautureau to be most uplifting: he left us with so many ideas that my head was almost spinning, but more than that, I left with feeling happy and inspired to be more fearless in my own kitchen. Definitely time well-spent. (To read more about Chef Thierry’s presentation, check this post on Fit & Fed.)

Attendees had a variety of classes to choose from, so Jana and I decided to take a “divide and conquer” approach, with each of us taking a different class and then comparing notes later. Which is how I landed in Krusteaz’ “It’s A Speed Scratch Party.” As you may know, I don’t use a lot of boxed mixes or processed foods, so I attended this more out of curiosity than anything else, and the best thing I took from it, for myself, was some really cute table-scape ideas. I am always fascinated when people come up with color-coordinated, themed anything, and event stylist Jennifer Sbranti of Hostess with the Mostess presented some really creative entertaining ideas. I also genuinely enjoyed hearing about the humble beginnings of the Krusteaz brand. (Hint: It involves a bridge club and a traveling salesman.)

For the last session of the day, I attended Cooking Backwards: The Art and Science of Local and Seasonal Cooking, which turned out to be my personal favorite IFBC session. Writer Audra Mulkern, farmers Megan Boyce-Jacobs and Christina Miller and professional recipe developer Greta Hardin shared their perspectives around reverse engineering your menu. Their passion about the farm-to-table movement inspired me to rededicate myself to connecting more purposefully with my local farmers, focusing on creating more seasonal meals, and planning for the off-season. (You will be hearing a lot more about this class in a future post.)

Coming soon: Hard Cheese: IFBC Tips You Probably Won’t Read Anywhere Else {IFBC Recap: Part 2}