Apple Cider Teriyaki Salmon

I love salmon.  And I love the fact that Krieger’s Market is all of three blocks from my house.  It’s so easy to stop and pick up some organic salmon on the way home from work!  I also love Krieger’s because of things like this:

The Canadian cooking rule! This has been taped to the Krieger’s meat/deli counter for as long as I can remember.

Typed instructions for cooking fish, cut from a larger piece of paper and taped to the edge of the meat/deli counter.  And the instructions really work!  (Sorry, the picture is a little fuzzy – I snapped it with my cell phone while I was getting the fish.)

I always follow these instructions for salmon, and it always comes out perfectly done.  But to shake things up a bit, this time I wanted to make some kind of sauce.  I came up with a version of teriyaki sauce made with soy sauce, apple cider and buckwheat honey.  Sounds crazy, right?  Maybe.  But it was yummy!

Apple Cider Teriyaki Sauce (this made enough sauce for two 8 oz pieces of salmon)

• 1/2 shallot, minced
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1/3 cup soy sauce (I used low sodium)
• 1/3 cup apple cider
• 1/4 cup buckwheat honey (more about buckwheat honey here)
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 scallion, chopped (to garnish)

In a small saucepan, sauté the shallots in olive oil over medium low heat until soft.  Add the soy sauce, apple cider, honey, garlic powder, salt and pepper and whisk together.  Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to medium/medium high and let the liquid reduce until it resembles a thin glaze.  Taste it – add a pinch more salt if needed.  Stir in the sesame seeds and pour over salmon (or chicken, I suppose).  Garnish with chopped scallions and enjoy!

Easy, right?  And since I already had the apple cider opened, I had a glass of cider with dinner.

Anyone up for a battle of wits?  (You can watch the scene from the movie here,)

Everything Salmon

This was a super easy, super tasty workday dinner.

I was re-reading one of my favorite foodie books, Smart Chefs Stay Slim.  If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it!  It’s an fascinating book about how chefs eat and stay healthy, and their attitudes toward food when they aren’t cooking in a restaurant.

In it, Chef Rick Moonen mentions a recipe he makes for “everything-crusted” tuna.  Sesame seeds, poppy seeds, onion, garlic, salt – all the things you would find on an everything bagel!  Now, I am a huge fan of everything bagels, so I had been intrigued by this brief description since the first time I read the book.  I’ve never cooked tuna at home, so I went for salmon.

I didn’t have poppy seeds, but I did have black sesame seeds, which worked perfectly.  They gave it the same “everything bagel” look and tasted amazing!

I drizzled some olive oil on the salmon and crusted the top (non-skin side) with black sesame seeds, garlic, onion powder, salt, and some cracked black pepper.  I seared it with the spice crusted side down over med-high heat on the stovetop just until it got golden brown, then flipped it skin-side down and put the pan in a 450 degree oven for about 12 minutes. (The thickest part of the salmon was about 1.5 inches.)

I chopped up some tomatoes and tossed them with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper for a side.  (The chives just made it into the picture for some additional color on the plate.)  It was beautiful, light, tasty, quick and easy – perfect!

Anybody read Smart Chefs Stay Slim?  What’s your favorite book about cooking or eating?