Blackened Chicken with Goya

This is one of those "none-recipes" I put together one day for dinner. Chicken is an excellent source of protein and it's simple to cook (and overcook, but let's try not to do that, okay?). I believe I started cooking chicken this way when I prepared pre-marathon carbo load dinners for Alex. I usually poach chicken breast since I hate-hate-hate overcooked chicken.

Blackened chicken before is basically chicken coated in some variety of seasoning mix, usually paprika or another red spice. It is then seared over a somewhat high heat, which creates the "blackening" of the spice coating. What it isn't supposed to be is burned. Don't literally blacken the chicken!

To start, you'll need two chicken breasts of equal size (or as close as possible). I don't have a scale so I don't know the weight of these, though smaller chicken breasts are better for even cooking in under 10 minutes. Make sure you pat them dry with a paper towel.

For my blackened spice mixture, I used two Goya packets (whichever kind you like), garlic powder, oregano, crushed red pepper flakes, cumin (not pictured), and kosher salt.

Starting with the bottom of the chicken breast, coat both sides evenly with the spice mixture. At this point, I set them aside while the pan heats up or I need to prep the vegetable dish, around 5-10 minutes.

When the pan is ready (it should start to smoke), the chicken breast is added top side down (aka, the presentation side). I adjust the heat at this point if it's starting to smoke too much or feels hotter than intended. Since these were small, it only takes around 8-9 minutes to fully cook.

Do you guys watch Master Chef? Remember that episode where they had to cook chicken breasts, three ways? Some of the cooks either undercooked their chicken or severely overcooked it. Both are a fear of mine each time I cook chicken breasts. In fact, I undercooked it the other night when I made fried chicken, which that was totally my fault because I should have compensated for the fact that I didn't use enough oil to completely submerge the chicken. TRYING AGAIN FOR REDEMPTION TONIGHT.

Moral of the story is, it's probably better to overcook the chicken by a minute than undercooking it, even though I absolutely hate dried chicken. Bad memories.

That's about it! What's great about a "none-recipe" like this is that you can easily substitute the spices with whatever is in your cabinet. If you like more of a certain spice, add more of it!

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Blackened Chicken with Goya
Recipe by Christina Provo

Ingredients -

2 small chicken breasts (no more than 8 ounces apiece)
2 packets Goya seasoning
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon oil

Directions -

1. Pat chicken breasts dry with a paper towel and place on a plate bottom side up.
2. In a small bowl, mix together all the spices with the salt. Sprinkle evenly over both sides of the chicken breasts; let rest for 5 minutes.
3. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat until the pan starts to smoke. Reduce heat slightly. Add chicken breasts, top side down. Cook, without disturbing, for 4 1/2 minutes. Flip over and cook for an additional 4 1/2 minutes. Remove chicken from skillet and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.