Blackened Fluke Sliders

Spicy blackened redfish sandwiches are a staple in Cajun cuisine, yet they haven’t seemed to catch on here in the Northeast, which is a shame. Try it! I prefer making them with black sea bass, which yields the perfect size fillet for a sandwich. Cod, haddock, mahi, and fluke are other potential candidates. It works best with thin fillets.

4 sandwich-sized fillets (black sea bass, cod, fluke, haddock, tautog)

Rolls of your choice

Lettuce

Tomato (sliced)

Mayonnaise

1 cup melted butter

6 tablespoons Chef Prudhomme Blackened Redfish Magic seasoning blend, or:

1 tablespoon paprika

2 ½ teaspoons salt

1 ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon dried thyme

½ teaspoon dried oregano

Coat each fillet well with melted butter. Liberally sprinkle the spice mix evenly on both sides of the fillets, packing it on by hand.

Place a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat until it’s very hot and begins to smoke, about 10 minutes. (A cast-iron skillet is crucial – don’t try this in a nonstick pan, and I must warn you that things will get smoky; so use your exhaust fan, and be prepared to disable the smoke detector.)

When the skillet is heated, place the fillets in it, being sure not to crowd the pan. Raise the heat to high. Top each fillet with about 1 tablespoon of melted butter. Cook, uncovered, until the bottoms look blackened, about 2 minutes. Flip the fillets over and again add 1 teaspoon of butter on top of each fillet. Cook until done, about 2 more minutes. Remove from pan and allow the fillets to cool for a few minutes. While they’re resting, toast your buns in the skillet over medium heat. (I like to add a bit of mayonnaise to the inside of the rolls before toasting.)

Now it’s time to assemble some tasty sandwiches. Start with a layer of lettuce (this will help keep the bun from getting soggy), then the fish, and top it off with a thin slice of tomato and a dollop of mayonnaise.