Rarely do I marinade fish. I probably have done this some time in my past, but I can’t remember when. So when Laura and I stumbled across this recipe, I was excited to see what would happen. I have to tell you, the results were very good.
The Recipe
The tenderness of the salmon after cooking was extraordinary. I couldn’t believe it. After my first bite, I asked Laura to come over and visit me in the kitchen to have a taste. We both agreed that the soft and perfectly cooked salmon, combined with the hint of maple syrup and brown sugar, was outstanding. To make things even better, this was a relatively simple dish to prepare. No curve balls here. Just salmon, some marinade and an oven. Perfectly delicious and sure to be impressive if you were to make this for someone special.
Ingredients
Serves: 4
3 Cups Warm Water
3/4 Cup Packed Brown Sugar
1/3 Cup Pure Maple Syrup
1/4 Cup Salt
1 1/2 Pound Salmon Fillet
Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
Step-by-Step Instructions
I’d like to thank Curtis Stone and his cookbook titled Good Food, Good Life for this recipe. This one is definitely impressive. Also, if you look through this recipe below, you’ll notice that the quantities of the fish don’t line up with the ingredient list above. Since it’s only Laura and me, I cut things in half. If you’d like to do the same, I can assure you things will be fine. But if you’re cooking for four, use the list above.
Prepare the Salmon
There are two ways you can go about this. You can either leave the entire piece of salmon as one and proceed from there or you can cut the slab into individual pieces and serve the dish like that. Since I feel it’s easier later on to cut the salmon into portions up front, that’s what I did. Both methods are fine.
In this case, I cut the piece of salmon into two portions and placed them on a plate.
Make the Marinade
In a medium sized bowl, add the water, brown sugar, maple syrup and salt. Mix together well until the ingredients are fully dissolved.
If you’d like to know what you’re in store for, give this marinade a little taste. I’m sure you’ll like it.
Marinade the Fish
In a flat baking dish of some sort, place the fish. Then, pour the marinade over the fish and place the container in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
Pre-Heat the Oven
Towards the end of the hour, go ahead and pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees. Also, make sure one of the racks is in the center position.
Roast the Salmon
In a large frying pan, drizzle some olive oil so it coats the bottom. Then, remove the salmon from the dish it’s marinading in and place the pieces in the pan. Brush some olive oil over the surface of the fish.
Place the pan in the oven for exactly 10 minutes. When that time is up, remove the pan from the oven and turn off the heat. Plate each piece of fish and serve.
The Final Dish
This is the most perfectly cooked salmon I may have ever tasted. It’s tender and moist in the middle and flakes apart like nothing at all. Give this one a try. If you enjoy this type of fish and these flavors, I think you’ll be impressed.
Leave a Reply