Published May 1, 2007.
For a grilled blackened red snapper recipe that would produce fillets with a dark brown, crusty, sweet-smoky, toasted spice exterior, we bloomed our spice mixture in melted butter, allowed it to cool, and applied the coating to the fish. Once on the grill, the spice crust acquired the proper depth and richness while the fish cooked through. To guarantee that our grilled blackened snapper recipe would have a moist, mild-flavored interior, we scored the skin so that the fillets wouldn’t curl during cooking.
If using fillets that are 1/2 inch or thinner, reduce cooking time to 3 minutes per side. If using fillets that are 1 inch or thicker, increase cooking time on second side by 2 minutes, moving the fish to the cooler side of the grill after the second side has browned. If you cannot find red snapper, striped bass, halibut, and catfish can be substituted. Making the slashes in the skin requires a sharp knife. If your knife isn’t sharp enough, try cutting through the skin with a serrated knife. However, cut in one direction (don’t saw) and be careful not to cut into the flesh. If you choose not to eat the skin, be sure to remove it after cooking rather than beforehand. Serve fish with lemon wedges and our Rémoulade or our Pineapple and Cucumber Salsa with Mint.
Dear Friend,
These days, it’s pretty easy to get free recipes on the Internet. I’m sure a search for “roast chicken recipe” will turn up thousands and thousands. But, as with so much on the web, you should tread lightly if you don’t know the source.
In America’s Test Kitchen, our motto is, “Recipes that Work,” and our mission is to be your trusted source for recipes that work every time you use them. Our test cooks spend their days obsessively testing recipes until they offer consistently great results. As we like to say here, “We make the mistakes so you don’t have to.”
CooksIllustrated.com is the only place you can find not only 20 years' worth of our foolproof recipes, but also objective ratings of cookware, and blind taste tests for hundreds of everyday supermarket ingredients (hey, without the proper ingredients and equipment you can still run into problems — no matter how good the recipe).
Let me make a simple, no-nonsense offer. Try out our website FREE for a 14-Day, No-Hassle Trial Offer. I’m pretty confident that CooksIllustrated.com will quickly become an invaluable resource for everything from quick, weeknight suppers to huge, holiday feasts for family and friends.
Thanks for your consideration,
Christopher Kimball
Founder and Publisher
