Blackened Salmon with Tomato Gravy

Ingredients

• 4 filets of salmon (about 24 ounces)
• 3 T FOC (fat of choice)

Blackened Seasoning

• 3 t paprika
• 1 t dried thyme
• 1 t dried oregano
• ½ t salt
• ¼ t cayenne
• ¼ t black pepper
• …or you can buy it

Tomato Gravy

• 1 onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 strips bacon, diced
• 1 14.5 can fire-roasted crushed tomatoes
• ½ c chicken stock
• ½ lemon, juiced
• S & P

It makes sense to start this recipe with the gravy as that can simmer away while you work on the fish. Add your diced bacon to a pan and cook on med-high heat, stirring occasionally until crispy. Remove and set aside–but keep the rendered fat in the pan. (We’ve tried adding the bacon and onions at the same time but it’s very difficult to get the bacon fully cooked without burning the onions).

In the same pan that’s now got delicious bacon grease in it, add your onions and garlic. Cook these until translucent and starting to brown slightly. When they’re ready, add your tomatoes, the stock, and the bacon to the party. Let this simmer on low while you work on your fish.

Make your blackened seasoning by dumping all the spices and mixing together, set aside. If you bought your salmon with skin on, you’ll want to remove the skin so you can season both sides. Do this by placing the salmon skin side down on a cutting board and passing your knife between the skin and flesh…as close to the skin as you can. It takes a little practice. Flip it over and take a look, trim off any remaining skin you missed. When you’ve got your skinless fish ready to go, pat dry with paper towels. You want the surface dry so you can achieve the optimal blackened effect. Season each side of the dry fish.

Place your fish in your hot pan/skillet (cast iron works well here) with your FOC. You need to hear a sizzle when you place the fish in otherwise it won’t be hot enough to sear/blacken before overcooking. Cook fish 2-5 minutes on each side. Peek under to check blackened-ness before turning. Don’t let the title of the dish fool you, you’re looking for more of a dark brown than black. Black probably means burned to a crisp and that is no bueno. If you’re unsure of this process you could try one piece of fish first to see if you can get it blackened on both sides without overcooking it in the middle.

Top your fish with the gravy and a squeeze of lemon. We served this with broccoli.