The Art of Blackening - Mack Daddy's Award Winning BBQ...

The Art of Blackening

“A Must Have Grill Accessory”

Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM -1- © 2013 Mack Daddy’s Inc.

NOTE: I invented a blackening skillet many years ago which I originally called the “Bayou Blackener”. Now, because of trademark constraints, I have changed the name of this product to “Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM”. I like the new name better and the product has actually been improved because now it is Pre-Seasoned at the factory. This book-let, “The Art of Blackening”, comes with the purchase of my product and it serves as an instructional guide and is packed with information, recipes, and tips gained from my personal knowledge and research. As one would expect, it touts the many virtues and uses of my product, “Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM” but will also go a long way to help you even if you don’t have my product and for that reason, I decided to offer it free to all those who are interested. Please enjoy and learn.

Tom Gates

MACK DADDY’S BLACKENERTM – HEAVY! ISN’T IT?

Congratulations on your purchase of Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM ~ it’s the finest product of its kind on the market. This unique product is made of high quality cast iron and exhibits a natural textured surface as individual as the sand-cast mold that produces it here in the good old USA. I am proud to say it is manu-factured for my company by Lodge Manufacturing, the oldest and largest cast iron cookware manufacturer in the United States. Lodge began making cast iron cookware in 1896 and they are still family owned and produce the most extensive selection of quality cast iron goods on the market. Check out Lodge’s website at www.lodgemfg.com. Generations upon generations have used cast iron cookware because it is energy efficient, durable, and adds natural value to your diet. Using cast iron is a traditional, sensible, and healthy way to cook, and Mack Daddy‘s BlackenerTM will provide you with many years of culinary enjoyment. If you’re not satisfied with this product for any reason please return it within 60 days for a full refund of the purchase price less shipping.


The Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM is very versatile and has many uses. It was initially designed to be a blackening skillet, but the creativity of the consumer has fostered many other applications. Listed below are some of the uses of the Mack Daddy‘s BlackenerTM. They will be discussed in detail later.

• As a blackening skillet for fish, beef, chicken, shrimp, etc. • As a regular griddle for eggs, pancakes, French toast, sausage, etc. • To make Mexican style fajitas • To make crispy pizzas on your barbecue grill or in the oven • As a grilling pan to cook foods on your grill that may fall through the grates • To make the best baked potatoes you ever tasted • To make dynamite grilled cheese sandwiches • To make seared Tuna • To bake biscuits, crescent rolls, cookies, etc. • As a food warmer for rolls, biscuits, bread, etc. • As a camping or tailgating utensil

Please understand that what makes this product unique and the reason it’s heavy, is because it’s about twice as thick as many of the other skillets or griddles on the market that I am aware of. Most people will equate weight with quality when it comes to cookware and Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM is no exception. You know it’s a quality product as soon as you pick it up, and because of its near double thickness and weight, it retains heat longer and heats more evenly than any other skillet or griddle you can buy. Please read all of the instructions before using your Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM.

CAUTIONThe Mack Daddy‘s BlackenerTM, when used as a blackening skillet, is not rec-ommended for indoor use. The Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM has an extra thick bottom and holds heat much longer than conventional skillets or griddles. When handling a hot Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM, ALWAYS use potholders or heavy gloves and handle with caution. If used as a regular griddle indoors, the Mack Daddy‘s BlackenerTM” is not recommended for bacon or any food that produces a lot of grease.

Also be aware that cooking food in cast iron will deposit traces of iron into the food which will be unnoticeable to your taste. This may be viewed as a benefit by some because iron is an important part of the human diet. But it is possible for the human body to have too much iron which can cause iron toxicity. People who


already have the condition of iron toxicity or small children under the age of four who may be susceptible to iron toxicity should not eat food cooked in cast iron.

Improper seasoning, cleaning, or storage in damp environments will cause cast iron to rust. Rust must be scoured away and the skillet must be treated and re-seasoned. Rust can get into your food and make you sick. Care for your skillet properly. (See “How to Care for Your Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM” below for proper instructions.)

There are no warranties expressed or implied including the implied warranty of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose. Mack Daddy’s, Inc. shall not be liable for any damages whatsoever including incidental or consequential arising out of the use of the Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM.

THE MACK DADDY’S BLACKENERTM NOW COMES PRE-SEASONED

The original product had to be seasoned like all raw untreated cast iron cooking utensils but the new and improved Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM now comes to you already pre-seasoned from the factory. The painstaking and messy process to season your product is no longer necessary. It is now pre-seasoned, beautiful, and ready to use right out of the box.

HOW TO CARE FOR YOUR MACK DADDY’S BLACKENERTM

To clean your skillet, use only hot water and a plastic scouring pad or brush. Some people will tell you to use mild soapy water, but I don’t recommend it. All of the old country people I have talked to will tell you to never use soap on cast iron because the iron can absorb the soapy taste. After you have cleaned your skillet, dry it completely, lightly re-oil with your favorite cooking oil all over including the bottom and put it in a brown paper bag or wrap it in a cloth to help absorb any excess oil and store it in a dry place. Subjecting this skillet to excess heat has a tendency to dry the seasoning out of the skillet especially the bottom or underside of the skillet. Please pay particular attention to the bottom of the skillet when coating it with your favorite cooking oil after each use.

Please take care of this product. If you do, it will last you a life time. Many of you have or know people who have cast iron passed down to them from their parents or even their grandparents. Take care of this product and you will be able to pass it down to your family.


EXACTLY WHAT IS BLACKENING AND WHY IS MACK DADDY’S

BLACKENERTM BETTER?Blackening is considered a type of Cajun cooking. It’s a technique that uses a very hot cast iron skillet, melted butter, and a mixture of spices to produce some of the most unique tastes that you will ever experience. You can blacken almost any kind of meat and some vegetables but the intent is to cook your food as fast as possible on very high heat, searing in the natural juices and flavors.

If you want to try blackening and you don’t have a cast iron skillet whether it is a Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM or simply a conventional cast iron skillet, “DON’T DO IT!” Please don’t try it with an aluminum pan. I have heard that aluminum is said to be linked to Alzheimer’s disease. And don’t do it in a non-stick coated pan either. I’ve also heard that non-stick pans are said to be associated with other diseases like Thyroid disease. (Please Google this to obtain your own personal information. Don’t take my word for it.) I’m not sure what the extreme heat used in the blackening process would do to aluminum or non-stick coating. I just know there is NO WAY I would try it and I sincerely hope you don’t.

The first thing I ever tried to blacken was Grouper. I was on vacation many years ago with my family on Captiva Island on the west coast of Florida. I had purchased a blackening spice in the grocery store and read all of the directions. It sounded simple and being a person that loved to cook, I couldn’t wait to give it a try. We happened to have a conventional cast iron skillet with us and I put in on the gas gill that was available to the guests at the condo where we were staying. I closed the grill and let it get hot for twenty minutes. When I had the grouper ready to cook I threw it on the skillet and instantly the grouper was consumed in smoke. I could barely see it in the skillet. When I thought it was about half done, I took my spatula and turned it over. Because the sides were so high on the skillet and because there was so much smoke trapped in the skillet because of its high sides it was difficult to even see the fish much less turn the fish over but I finally managed. After successfully turning over the fish I noticed I didn’t hear the loud sizzle that I had heard when I first put the fish in the skillet and it was obvious to me that the cast iron skillet had cooled down. That’s when the idea came to me for the creation of the Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM.

I made the Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM with an extra thick bottom so it would hold heat better. I made it with short sides so that it is easier to see your food through


the smoke and to make it easier to access your food and turn it over. I made it griddle shaped (approximately 11” X 16”) to give it more usable room and to accommodate longer pieces of different foods like fish fillets that sometimes don’t fit well in a round skillet. I had created the perfect blackening skillet.

When you put a piece of cool meat or fish on a hot skillet, the skillet immediately begins to cool down because the cool meat absorbs some of the heat. This drop in temperature is not desirable when blackening. You want your food to cook as fast as possible and this inconsistency in temperature affects cooking times and the blackening process. The Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM will help minimize this temperature drop because of its massive thickness. It’s best to only load your skillet about half full when blackening heavy pieces of meat. That way when you turn the meat over you can place it in a fresh spot on your skillet which will help maintain the high temperature you are looking for.

Every set of instructions I have ever seen for blackening food says to use a cast iron skillet, “the hotter the better.” It is important to get your skillet hot, but is just as important to keep it hot while you’re blackening. The temperature should be as consistent as possible. The Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM, because of its extra thick bottom, has a tremendous advantage over conventional skillets when it comes to maintaining heat. Simple physics will tell you that a skillet that is twice as thick will hold heat better than one that is half as thick. If hotter is better, then thicker is better also, and if thicker is better, then the Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM is the best blackening skillet you can buy.

Cross-sectional view of the Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM and a conventional cast iron skillet showing bottom thickness comparison.


BEFORE YOU GET STARTEDBefore you try to blacken anything please pay attention to this. Please follow the manufacturer’s instructions for your particular grill but the following is what I have learned from personal experience. It is important that you understand that blackening is a technique. It is a process. It is NOT a recipe. Just like frying, baking, boiling, broiling, grilling, or sautéing, it is another way to cook. It’s simply an alternative cooking method and its one that you can master with just a little practice.

Something else I would like to point out before you get started. Because of the amount of smoke created when blackening, you should always do it outdoors on your barbecue grill and here’s a little tip just in case you don’t already know. Because blackening demands a very hot cast iron skillet you want your grill to reach optimum temperature. But the fact is that charcoal grills and gas grills work differently when it comes to getting them hot. They actually work opposite of each other in a sense. On a charcoal grill when you want it to get hotter you open all the vents and take off the lid or cover. This allows more air or oxygen to reach the coals and thus increases the heat. On a gas grill to get more heat you turn up the flame and CLOSE the cover to trap the heat. One has the cover on and one has the cover off. Remember that. So if you are blackening on a gas grill always keep the cover closed. You can also use a stand-alone gas burner as a heat source but I believe they have the ability to actually get your skillet too hot so be careful and experiment.

And here’s something else you need to accept and deal with. If you’ve never tried to blacken anything then you will have a learning curve to deal with. Most people will cook their food too long initially because they are not used to cooking with such high heat. The good news is that the learning curve is usually short. When you first start and you are all ready to go, I would suggest putting just one piece of whatever you are cooking (steak, fish, shrimp, mushrooms, etc.) on the Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM and experiment with the time and temperature. Just cooking that first piece of anything will give you mountains of information. You will know whether to cook the next piece longer or shorter; you will know if you should put on more spice or less spice; you will determine if your grill should be hotter or cooler; you’ll know if what your cooking should be thinner or thicker, and you learn other things too. You’ll learn all of that in two or three or four minutes. Once you figure all of this out, then you will be on your way to being a master of blackening.


Just to make a point, restaurants really don’t always know what they are doing. I actually ordered blackened Grouper at a nice restaurant once that turned out to be a piece of fish sprinkled with a blackening spice that was baked in the oven. BAKED IN THE OVEN! REALLY? They CERTAINLY had no idea what they were doing. They should have fired the chef! Like I have always said, you can blacken better than a restaurant with just a little practice. The reason is that you can cook exactly what you want to eat, with the amount of spice that you want on your food, which has reached the doneness that you prefer. That’s as good as it gets.

There’s one last thing I am compelled to say. You must enjoy cooking or fancy yourself as a pretty good backyard chef or griller as evidenced by the fact that you have purchased a Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM or that you have obtained this booklet. A lot of people fall into a rut using their barbecue grills because they continue to cook the same old things over and over and over again…..hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken, and steak. Now you can liven up the party, extend the uses of your grill, and explore a whole new selection of foods and vegetables that will excite your family and guests and you will soon derive an immense satisfaction by mastering the “Art of Blackening”.

BLACKENING - HOW DO YOU DO IT?Even though most people have no idea how blackening is done, the basic tech-nique is truly very simple, and the technique is always the same no matter what you are blackening. Remember, it’s a technique... not a recipe. Remember to use a pot holder or oven mitt when handling a hot Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM. Listed below are the basic steps:

1. Heat your Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM as hot as possible. Because of the amount of smoke created during the blackening process, you should always blacken outdoors. If you try to do it in your house, I’ll guarantee you will set off your smoke alarms or possibly even start a fire. The best way to heat your skillet is on your barbecue grill (gas or charcoal) or on a portable gas burner. Remember to get your skillet as close to the coals or flame as possible because you do want it “HOT.” Let your skillet heat up for at least 10 to 15 minutes. If you are using a gas grill remember to keep the cover closed to trap the heat.

2. Dip the fish or meat or vegetable into melted butter making sure to coat it evenly on both sides. I would use unsalted butter because the blackening spice has enough salt in it already. Here’s a little tip! The meat should be cool or


close to room temperature. Never try it with anything that is frozen. The butter should be melted but not too hot. If the butter is too hot, it will drip off the meat too quickly and the butter coating will be too thin. If the butter is just the right temperature, you will notice how well it coats the meat. Since some people are concerned about cholesterol, margarine is an acceptable substitute. And if you are diet conscious, I have heard of some people who have substituted spray olive oil instead of butter. I even know a man who lives in New Hampshire who swears he lost a lot of weight eating blackened fish and chicken cooked using spray olive oil instead of butter. But we all know, nothing tastes better than butter and most of it burns off anyway so it’s up to you. Just so you’ll know…. I use butter.

3. Sprinkle the meat generously on both sides with a mixture of spices (recipe to follow). This is an important step and its one reason why you can cook black-ened foods at home better than any of the restaurants can. Too many restaurants feel compelled to make blackened entrees extremely hot because it’s Cajun type food. I have ordered blackened food that I couldn’t eat because it was just too hot. The truth is, only about ten percent of the population enjoys really hot food. With just a little practice, you can learn to add exactly the right amount of spices to satisfy yourself, your family and your friends. Because you have the opportunity to choose the freshest cuts of the type meat you prefer, and because you will have the ability to add just the right amount of spices, and because you know how done you want your food to be, you’ll be able to out cook all of the restaurants when it comes to blackened food.

4. Once your skillet is hot, place the meat, fish, or vegetable on the skillet with a metal spatula and turn it over when it’s about half done to finish cooking the other side. You will notice how fast food cooks because of the extremely high temperatures. Also, you will often see flames erupt when you first place the food on the skillet. The temperatures are so high that the butter coating on the meat sometimes actually ignites. This is normal and the flames will generally disappear in ten or fifteen seconds. Just be prepared and watch out for the flames. If you don’t get flames that’s okay too. If you are cooking several different loads of food on your Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM one right after the other, I would recommend that you turn your metal spatula over and use the front edge to scrape the skillet clean after each load is done. After you have done that, then use a wet rag and wipe the skillet clean before you cook your next batch. Remember it’s “HOT” so use your spatula to move the rag around and clean your skillet.


That’s it! That’s how you blacken. It’s easy, it’s fast, and it’s fun. Blackening has caught on all over the country, and just like frying, boiling, broiling, baking, sautéing, or steaming, it’s another cooking alternative that’s here to stay. Almost any high end restaurant you go into today will offer you a choice of fried, grilled, or blackened.

Here’s another little tip you should be aware of. After you are finished blackening, while your skillet is still hot, turn your metal spatula over and use the front edge to scrape the skillet as clean as possible. Then, after the coals have died down or you have turned your burners off and the skillet has cooled down enough but is still warm, wipe it out with a damp disposable rag. This will make it easy to clean. (See Section on “How To Care For Your Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM”.) Remember, this product holds heat for a long time, so make sure it’s cool enough to handle. Don’t forget to always wear gloves or use potholders when handling a hot Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM.

THE ALL IMPORTANT SPICESAs you know, spices are a matter of individual taste, and blackening spices are no different. Variety is limited only by your imagination. Listed below is a basic recipe that you can begin with and change as you are so inclined. If you look you’ll find many other similar recipes on the internet.

3 tablespoons paprika 1/2 tablespoon black pepper2 teaspoons salt 1/2 teaspoon white pepper1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper 1/2 teaspoon oregano1 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon thyme1 teaspoon onion powder

Combine all these ingredients in a blender or Cuisinart and grind them up for a couple of minutes or so. (I will also tell you that a coffee grinder works particularly well but if you use a coffee grinder, then dedicate it to blackening spices only because it would affect the taste of your coffee if you tried to use it for grinding coffee beans too.) Grind it long enough to mix the spices thoroughly. This will help prevent the mixture of spices from settling or layering. The seasoning mix-ture can be made up in advance and stored for future use. Putting it in a shaker is very helpful. You should also be aware that there are ready-made blackening spices available in your local supermarkets. The ready-made spices are more expensive, but are much more convenient.


HOW TO PREPARE THE FOODS FOR BLACKENING

You must remember that the four basic steps for blackening that were already mentioned are always the same no matter what you are cooking. The only real differences are which spices you choose and which meats or vegetables you cook. Listed below are some tips and suggestions about some of the different foods you may choose to blacken.

• FISH - Always remove the skin and bones. Some types of fish like dolphin (Mahi-Mahi) have a strip of dark red meat running down the middle of the fillet. People call it the bloodline. I rec-ommend removing this too because of its strong fishy taste. Try to cut the fillets into pieces that are as large as you can turn over easily with your metal spatula. Obviously, the fresher the fish, the better. As far as which fish is the best to blacken, it’s all up to your individual taste. Most people agree that firm-fleshed fish are best suited for blackening. I believe the very first thing ever blackened over twenty five years ago was a redfish, but I know people blacken catfish, snook, grouper, tuna, swordfish, snapper, and salmon. On a salmon fillet there is a light brown strip of meat running down the center of the length of the fillet on one side. I remove this also because it is fishy tasting. Fillets that are from 1/2” to 1” thick work best.

• BEEF - If you like steak and have never tried one blackened, you are in for a treat. Use boneless beef and remove the excess fat. I believe 1” cuts work the best. Popular cuts for blackening are rib eye, Delmonico, New York strip, and fillet mignon. It will work best to blacken your beef until it’s medium-rare to medium. It’s hard to tell you how long to cook something because I don’t know how you like your


food cooked, how hot your grill gets, etc., but I will tell you that on my grill for example a one inch thick New York strip takes about 6 minutes total (three minutes a side) to be medium rare.

• CHICKEN - Boneless skinless breasts and bone-less skinless thighs are all that I would recommend. Chicken breasts are a little more challenging to cook because there is a fine line between cooked enough and overdone. You know what I mean. It’s almost done… its almost done… it’s almost done… its overcooked. I would suggest taking the chicken breast off the skillet long enough to cut into it to test it for doneness. I hate doing that because it I know it causes the hot chicken breast to lose its juices and dry out but it may be the only way to cook the remaining breasts correctly. You could also just have an extra breast that you purposely sacrifice to obtain great results on the remaining breast. Obviously, if it isn’t quite done, put it back on until it is.

•SHRIMP - Blackened shrimp is one of my favor-ites and they make terrific appetizers. Large shrimp are the most popular and are the easiest to cook simply because you will have fewer shrimp to take care of (peel, clean, turnover, etc.) for the same amount of weight. (There are a lot fewer large shrimp in a pound than there are small shrimp in a pound.) Peel off the shell and devein the shrimp or you can buy frozen, uncooked, peeled, and deveined shrimp at the supermarket. It costs a little more but I think it is well worth it and all you have to do is thaw them out. You can leave the tail on for looks if you choose. Also if you’d like a slightly different flavor, you can marinate the shrimp in a half cup of good olive oil mixed with four or five cloves of crushed garlic. Put the shrimp, olive oil, and garlic in a zip lock bag, remove the air, and put it in the refrigerator for two to three hours. Remove the shrimp, discard the oil mixture, and blot


the excess oil from the shrimp using paper towels. I prefer to put four or five shrimp on wooden skewers because I can turn over four or five at once instead of doing them individually. Thread the skewers through the head end of the shrimp so that they hang from the skewer. If you thread them through the middle they will spin around and be hard to handle and turn over. Remember to soak your wooden skewers in water for a little while to keep them from burning. When you’re ready to blacken the shrimp, just follow the four basic steps. Since, we’re talking about shrimp, I might mention that I know people who also blacken lobster (they remove it from the shell first), scallops, and squid. Blackened scallops are fantastic and you just do them the same way.

•Venison - Cut the pieces about 1/2” thick and don’t overcook. Remember, there is no fat in venison and it will be very tough if cooked too long. I have also heard of people blackening elk, moose, and alligator.

•Mushrooms - I personally invented this one…for real! Fresh white button mush-rooms or Creminis work very well. If you can find a store that has the mushrooms loose in a bin, pick the larger ones because mushrooms have a high water content and they shrink up quite a bit.. Some people say to wipe your mushrooms off with a brush or damp towel. Not me! I know how they grow them and what they grow them in. I wash them under running water and make sure they are clean. Very clean. Dry them off and cut the stems off flush with the cap so that the mushrooms will lay flat on either side. Just follow the four basic steps. This is the most unique taste I have ever discovered and black-ened mushrooms make fantastic appetizers. This is a real hit at parties! I’ve cooked as much as ten pounds of mushrooms at parties to serve as appetizers and people would eat them as fast as I took them off the skillet. Even people that don’t like mushrooms were eating them. Try it and you’ll be a believer.

•Don’t forget about Portabella mushrooms (which are simply mature Creminis). Wash them off and lay the mushrooms flat on your cutting board with the top facing up. Cut them across in half inch thick strips. Once again, follow the four basic steps. The sliced Portabellas are good but don’t have the same texture as the white button mushrooms or Creminis do after they are cooked. I think I like the little ones better.


HOW LONG DOES BLACKENING TAKE?How long it takes is a difficult question to answer because it depends on so many factors. The type of heat source you use, how hot your skillet gets, the type of meat you are cooking, and how you personally prefer it cooked all affect the length of time it takes. However, I’m confident that using your Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM a few times will give you all the experience you’ll need to begin to produce professional results. It will just take a little practice. Any chef gains experience when he tries something new and you are no different. Just remember that it’s fast. Now that you know how to blacken, let’s see what else you can use the Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM for.

AS A REGULAR GRIDDLEMany people have or have seen cast iron griddles that are similar in appearance to the Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM. The similarity ends quickly when you pick up one of these other griddles and compare its weight to the weight of the Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM. Most of the other skillets or griddles weigh about five to nine pounds depending on its size. The Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM weighs al-most twelve pounds because it’s so much thicker. This extra thickness, as already discussed, was originally a design feature intended to enhance the blackening process. The effect of this massive thickness is to improve heat retention and to increase the skillet’s ability for even heating. When you think about it, these characteristics are not only good for blackening but also good for any kind of cooking. Who wouldn’t want a skillet or griddle that held heat well and heated evenly? Nobody! Therefore, if these characteristics are desirable (and they are), then the Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM is not only the best blackening skillet you can buy but it is also the best regular griddle you can buy too.

Remember, when heating your Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM on the stove to be used as a regular griddle, always heat it up slowly. If you get it too hot for what you are cooking it may take a while to cool it back down to the desired temperature because it is so thick. Also, because of the even-heating characteristic of this cast iron product, you may find that you are able to use lower heat settings on your range. When you’re finished cooking, remember to use pot holders or heavy gloves when handling a hot Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM.

Foods such as eggs, pancakes, French toast, link sausage, etc. work very well in the Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM. I would recommend that if you are cooking something that has a tendency to stick to the bottom, like eggs for example, that


you use one of the non-stick spray vegetable oils, especially when the skillet is new. The tendency for foods to stick will become less and less as the product is used and becomes more seasoned.

TEX-MEX STYLE FAJITASTex-Mex and Mexican recipes have popped up all over the country, and one of the most popular recipes to come along is for fajitas. The word, fajita, means belt or little sash in Spanish, and it is made traditionally from skirt steak. Fajitas are sometimes messy to cook so once again let’s turn to our barbeque grill. Here’s what you are going to need:

1 lb. skirt steak (3/4” to 1” thick)* 8 flour tortillas (7 inch)*Substitute chicken breast if desired 1/2 cup sour cream3 cloves minced garlic 1/2 cup salsa (recipe below)1 large bell pepper (green) 1/2 cup guacamole (recipe below) (sliced into 1/4” slices) 2 tablespoons lime juice1 large bell pepper (red) 1 shot tequila (sliced into 1/4” slices) 1/2 cup shredded cheese1 large onion (sliced into 1/4”slices) 4 tablespoons olive oil

Marinate the beef (or chicken) in a zip lock bag with the olive oil, lime juice, garlic, and tequila for about two hours. Remove the meat and discard the liquid. Grill the meat until almost done on your grill, not your Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM. Take the meat off the grill, let it rest for a few minutes, and then cut it into 1/4 inch wide strips and place in a bowl and cover. Meanwhile, your Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM has been on the grill grate heating up while you were grilling the meat. Take the sliced onions and sliced peppers and cook them on your skillet until they reach the desired doneness (usually a light golden brown). Remember, you aren’t blackening here. You are just sautéing the onions and peppers. Since your skillet at this point is not nearly as hot as it would be if you were blacken-ing, I suggest adding a little butter or cooking oil to the peppers and onions to help them brown. Just continue to stir the peppers and onions and turn them over constantly so they will cook evenly. When they are finished, put them in a bowl and cover. Immediately put the sliced beef or chicken in the skillet and stir it until it’s heated up and finished cooking. This step only takes a minute or two. When finished, put the meat in a bowl and cover also. Serve the warmed tortillas (follow directions on package), the peppers and onions, and the beef or chicken with the shredded cheese, sour cream, salsa and guacamole as toppings for your fajitas. You can warm the tortillas up on your skillet for a few seconds just before serving. If you choose to warm your tortillas on your skillet, wipe it out with a damp rag using the end of your spatula to remove any oil or residue first.


A little story I want to share with you here. When I first started selling this product many years ago there was a woman in Orlando, Florida that kept buying Mack Daddy’s BlackenersTM from me every two or three weeks. She must have pur-chased twenty five of them over a period of ten or twelve months. Finally, my curiosity got the best of me and I called her. I thanked her for all of her business and then asked her politely what she was doing with all of the skillets she was ordering. Her answer was that she and her husband loved making fajitas with their Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM. She said they entertained a lot and would give them away as gifts to the guests after cooking for them. So the credit for using the Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM to make fajitas goes to the nice lady in Orlando who showed me the continued versatility of this product.

SALSA GUACAMOLE3 or 4 medium tomatoes 3 tablespoons lemon juice cut into small pieces 3/4 teaspoon salt1/3 cup tomato sauce 1/4 medium onion1/2 cup finely chopped onion 2 small ripe avocados3 cloves minced garlic (Mash avocados with fork,1 large jalapeno pepper blend ingredients and chill) (remove seeds and mince) 3 tablespoons minced parsley 1 teaspoon ground oregano 2 tablespoons lime juice 1 teaspoon salt (mix all ingredients and chill)

MAKE A GREAT CRISPY HOMEMADE PIZZAI only experimented with this recently but it worked like a champ and this will be one of the easier pizzas you ever made. I call it “Cheating Pizza”. First, go to your favorite local home delivery Pizza company and buy some already made pizza dough. (This is one of the cheating parts.) The dough they sold me was large enough for an 18 inch round pizza and it was very inexpensive. I used about 75% of the dough I bought to make a pizza on the Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM. The dough will probably be better than you can make it (at least it is in my case) and it only costs a couple of dollars and it’s ready to use. Next, lay out a big sheet of tinfoil on the counter to work on. (Tip – take a damp paper towel and wipe down the counter first before you lay down the tin foil. Get all of the creases and wrinkles out. The wet surface you have created under the foil will help the foil stick and prevent it from sliding around.) Scatter a little flour on the tin foil to prevent sticking. Now begin the process of stretching the dough and shaping


it so that it will eventually wind up being about one inch larger than your Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM all the way around. To be honest, I used a rolling pin to help accomplish this. (This is another one of the cheating parts.) Once I had the dough the right size and thickness I sprayed a little non stick spray on my skillet and then took the foil with the dough stuck to it and flipped it over and positioned it over my skillet dough side down. Then you have to carefully peel the tin foil off of the dough. This isn’t exactly easy so take your time and be patient. Once you have done this, go back and roll up the excess dough around the edges to make a little lip of dough around the inside of the skillet.

Now you’re ready to add the pizza sauce, the Mozzarella cheese, the pepperoni, mushrooms, onions, black olives, or whatever you like on your pizza. I used my grill to cook this and pre-heated it to about 550 degrees but I think you could do it at 500 degrees or even lower if you wanted to. I’m sure you could do it in your oven too if you choose. At 550 degrees on my grill, the pizza took about eight minutes and then I let it sit for about twenty minutes before we ate it. That sounds like a long time to let it sit but remember the Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM holds heat for a LONG time so it takes quite a while to cool down. Besides you can’t eat pizza that is too hot anyway. This pizza came out thin crusted and crisp and was truly a hit with my family who fancy themselves as pizza connoisseurs. I promise it will make you proud.

USE YOUR MACK DADDY’S BLACKENERTM AS A GRILLING PAN

You know sometimes when you are trying to cook certain vegetables on the grill they start to get soft or break up and will sometimes fall through the grates. Like onion slices, or asparagus, or zucchini, and scallions for example. An easy solution is to simply cook them on your grill on the Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM. You aren’t blackening them. You are simply cooking them on your gill using your Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM with normal heat.

THE WORLD’S BEST BAKED POTATO If you like baked potatoes then you are going to ABSOLUTELY love your Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM. I like to shop for baked potatoes at grocery stores that have the potatoes in bins that allow you to select which potatoes you want to buy. I try to pick the largest ones that I can that are similar in size (so they cook at the same rate) and that don’t have any cuts or bad spots on them. Wash them thoroughly using a scrub brush or rough cloth and dry them completely. Pierce the skin with


a fork several times all over and then coat the whole potato with a good coating of olive oil. Then sprinkle salt (the oil helps the salt stick) heavily all over the whole potato and put it on the Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM. The skillet will hold six fairly large baking potatoes. Four facing one way parallel to each other and the other two placed at the top of the skillet facing the opposite direction end to end. Put the skillet with the potatoes into a pre-heated 400 degree oven and cook for about an hour and thirty minutes to an hour and forty minutes. After 45 minutes in the oven or about the half way mark, turn the potatoes over on the skillet and return them to the oven. Be careful because they are hot. You may want to use a dish towel or oven mitt to do this. I know most people say cook baked potatoes for an hour but they are wrong. They just don’t get properly done that quickly. Especially big ones! I promise you that if you follow my directions these will be the best baked potatoes you have ever tasted. I think what happens is the salt on the outside of the potato helps draw the moisture out of the potato through the pierced holes you make with the fork and concentrate the flavors. The oil helps produce a crispy skin which I personally love to eat. Serve them with your choice of butter, chives, sour cream, chopped scallions, bacon bits, salsa, or cheese. Baked potato bars are usually big hits at parties. I honestly don’t know why the Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM helps them turn out the way they do. It just does and their delicious.

GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICHESI realize this sounds pretty basic but I am trying to point out the many uses of this product. When you cook grilled cheese sandwiches you want your Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM to be at medium heat or maybe even a little lower. You want your bread to toast to a nice golden brown but you want to give the cheese time to melt. Too hot of a skillet won’t work for a grilled cheese sandwich because the bread will be burned before the cheese melts.

Let your butter get to room temperature so that it is easy to spread. Butter one side of your bread and put it butter side down in a pre-heated skillet. Place a slice (or two) of your favorite cheese on the bread and then butter another slice of bread and place it on top of the cheese butter side up. After the bottom side slice of bread reaches a rich golden brown, turn the whole sandwich over to cook the other slice of bread. If you want to get exotic with your grilled cheese sandwiches either let your imagination run wild or go on line and investigate the many recipes that are available.


SEARED TUNAAre you a sushi lover? A very popular appetizer and/or entree offered in many restaurants today is seared tuna and is usually made with tuna called Ahi tuna which is yellow fin tuna. It is simple to make but you need to be smart about it. Seared tuna is just what it sounds like. It’s lightly seared on the outside but it’s raw in the middle. Don’t get me wrong, it’s delicious but it’s raw so you need to be sure you are cooking very fresh tuna, preferably one that you or someone you know just caught or you need to be cooking sushi grade tuna purchased from a fish house you can trust. The last sushi grade tuna I bought was about $19 a pound.

You can cook tuna steaks if you prefer but I like to cook blocks of tuna cut into pieces that are about an inch or inch and a half thick by two to two and a half inches wide and maybe four to six inches long. Mix a ¼ cup of soy sauce with a half teaspoon of sesame oil and dip the tuna pieces in it coating all sides. Take a plate or shallow pan and put a 1/2 cup of white sesame seeds, a 1/2 cup of black sesame seeds, and three tablespoons of coarse black pepper in it. Stir up the mixture so that it is thoroughly mixed and then roll the tuna pieces in it so that the mixture evenly coats the tuna on all sides and ends. Get your skillet hot on your grill and add a couple tablespoons of cooking oil and smear it around the skillet and then sear the Tuna on all four sides for about 30 to 40 seconds a side. This may sound like a long time but the coating of sesame seeds acts like a barrier and prevents the tuna from cooking too quickly. If you didn’t have the sesame seeds on the tuna it would probably cook in ten or fifteen seconds per side. It works best if the pieces of tuna are cold. Really cold! Really, really, really cold! Remember you aren’t trying to cook the tuna; you are just trying to sear the outside. When you are done, slice the tuna in one eighth inch to three sixteenths inch thick pieces and arrange them overlapping each other on a plate. You need a very sharp knife to do this properly. I use a thin blade fillet knife. Put two or three tablespoons of Ponzu sauce (recipe below) on the arranged slices of tuna. I also like it with soy sauce and Wasabi. Garnish with thinly sliced green onions and serve it proudly. These appetizers alone are twelve to fifteen dollars in a restaurant and you can make several of them with a pound of tuna. Once again, great for parties!


PONZU SAUCE ½ cup soy sauce2 tablespoons SakeTwo tablespoons rice wine vinegarTwo tablespoons lemon juice One tablespoon lime juiceOne tablespoon sugar

BISCUITS, CRESCENT ROLLS AND COOKIES

Let me tell you this. If you don’t use your Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM for any-thing else, use it to make biscuits. Buy your favorite packaged biscuits in the supermarket or make your own from scratch. Use a little spray-on cooking oil on the Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM and just follow the instructions on the container or follow your own recipe. You’ll be amazed! They will come out perfect. And here’s a little added bonus. If you cook ten biscuits for example to serve a family of four to six, leave the biscuits on the Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM after they’re cooked. Make sure you use your potholders and place the Mack Daddy’s Black-enerTM on a trivet or hot plate. Cover the biscuits with a sheet of aluminum foil first and then a clean dish towel on top of the foil. The heat retention properties of the Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM will keep your biscuits warm for the duration of your meal. Crescent rolls and cookies work exactly the same way. Remember to always handle your hot skillet with potholders or oven gloves. USE YOUR MACK DADDY’S BLACKENERTM

AS A WARMING TRAYSometimes dinner rolls come in a prepackaged tray. When you follow the di-rections on the package to cook the rolls in your oven, put your Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM in the oven at the same time. When the rolls are done, remove them from the oven along with the Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM and place them on your skillet. Put them on a trivet or hot plate, cover them with a sheet of aluminum foil first and then place a clean dish towel on top of the foil. Once again, they will stay warm for the duration of your meal. Homemade bread works the same way. Don’t forget to always handle your hot skillet with potholders or oven gloves.


AS A CAMPING UTENSILCamping is a sport that many enjoy and one of the best things about camping is cooking by the campfire. The Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM has been used by many for this purpose. Prop your skillet up on blocks, rocks or logs and shovel hot coals from your campfire underneath it to heat it up. Or if you want or need to, you can place your Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM right on top of the coals. I also know from personal experience that the Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM works very well on the portable camp stoves that are available or even on small portable grills which also makes it great for tailgating. I don’t know what it is, but everything tastes better when you’re camping or cooking in a parking lot.

WHAT ELSE?Well, let your imagination be your guide. I’m sure there are many other uses for the Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM that I have not even thought of. If you come up with one that I haven’t mentioned please let us know. Whatever use you find for it, rest assured that this is a quality product that will last you for many years if properly cared for. I very much appreciate your interest and your business and I sincerely hope you enjoy your Mack Daddy’s BlackenerTM.

Warm Regards,

Tom Gates President, Mack Daddy’s, Inc. Melbourne, Florida www.mackdaddysinc.com

The Art of Blackening - Mack Daddy's Award Winning BBQ...

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