Before leaving for work last week I took the small amount of my Cayenne Vanilla Dry rub (cayenne blackening powder mixed with vanilla sugar- easy to make) I had left and rubbed down some chicken breast, thighs, and frog legs. And then wrapped the pieces in bacon; pieces without skin to ensure a moist out come when grilling; make sure they are all the same size so they cook evenly, placing the frog legs on the cooler section of the grate as you grill.
Cajun Blackening Seasoning Recipe
1 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon ground dried oregano
1 tablespoon ground dried thyme
2 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
1 teaspoon finely ground white pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Makes about 1/4 cup, and the difference between my recipe and a regular blackening is the extra cayenne, but the vanilla sugar will balance that one out.
Vanilla Sugar
1 vanilla bean (split and bean pod fully extracted)
1 cup fine pastry sugar
blended in my small chopper until fully combined and sugar should be placed in a dry container until use.
Some sights I read say immerse the bean pod into the sugar and leave, but I feel it does not fully extract the flavor like scraping the bean and mixing the two.
Mix both together a day ahead and use for grilling rub.
I am sure my posts lately have been rubbing it in about my son living with us again, but I have been so happy having him around. He loves to grill, and we do plenty of it when we are together. This rub was a hit with him and hubs.
Let's have one more look at the table...
