blackened

A cooking technique made famous by New Orleans's chef Paul Prudhomme by which meat or fish is cooked in a cast-iron skillet that's been heated until almost red hot. Prudhomme's original specialty was blackened redfish. The food is customarily rubbed with a cajun spice mixture before being cooked. The extra hot skillet combined with the seasoning rub gives food an extra crispy crust.

The adjective has 2 meanings:

Meaning #1: darkened by smoke

Meaning #2: (of the face) made black especially as with suffused blood
  Synonym: black