A rich Gulf Coast-style dish with spicy blackened snapper, buttery shrimp, mushrooms, garlic, lemon, and a creamy Pontchartrain sauce. Serve it over dirty rice, rice pilaf, or creamy grits.
Ingredients
For the Blackened Snapper:
- 4 snapper fillets, about 6–8 oz each
- 3 tbsp melted butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Lemon wedges, for serving
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ¾ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper, or more if you like heat
- ½ tsp white pepper
- ½ tsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 8 oz medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 6 oz lump crabmeat, optional but highly recommended
- 8 oz mushrooms, sliced
- 3 green onions, sliced, whites and greens separated
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ cup dry white wine
- ¾ cup seafood stock or chicken stock
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1–2 tsp Cajun seasoning, to taste
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 tbsp cold butter, cut into pieces
- 2 tbsp chopped parsley
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
Instructions
Make the seasoning
- Mix all blackening seasoning ingredients in a small bowl. Pat the snapper fillets very dry, then brush both sides with melted butter. Coat generously with the seasoning.
- Sear the snapper
- Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat until very hot. Add olive oil.
- Sear the snapper for about 3–4 minutes per side, depending on thickness, until the outside is dark and crusty and the fish flakes easily. Remove to a plate and keep warm.
- Don’t crowd the pan. Cook in batches if needed.
- Reduce heat to medium. In the same skillet, add 2 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp olive oil.
- Add mushrooms and cook 4–5 minutes until browned. Add the white parts of the green onions and garlic, then cook 30–60 seconds.
- Add shrimp and cook just until pink, about 2 minutes per side. Remove shrimp if they finish before the sauce is done so they don’t turn rubbery.
- Pour in white wine and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the skillet. Let it reduce by about half.
- Add seafood stock, heavy cream, Worcestershire, Dijon, Cajun seasoning, and lemon juice. Simmer 4–6 minutes until the sauce thickens enough to coat a spoon.
- Lower the heat and whisk in the cold butter pieces. Fold in the crabmeat gently if using. Taste and adjust with salt, pepper, Cajun seasoning, or lemon.
- Plate it
- Spoon dirty rice, rice pilaf, or grits onto each plate. Place blackened snapper on top.
- Ladle the Pontchartrain sauce over the fish, making sure each plate gets shrimp, mushrooms, and crab. Finish with green onion tops, parsley, and lemon wedges.
- Dirty rice
- Garlic butter rice
- Creamy grits
- Roasted asparagus
- French bread for dragging through the sauce
Notes
The secret is getting the fish dry and the skillet hot. If the skillet is too cool, the seasoning gets muddy instead of forming that dark, smoky crust. Also, don’t boil the cream sauce hard after adding the seafood. Gentle heat keeps it silky.
