Salmon with apricot ginger glaze and green onion

The problem and the blessing of being a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of cook is that I often get my heart set on making a particular thing and assume I have the necessary ingredients on hand. Today, as is often the case, I was not fortunate enough to have on hand the ingredients I thought I would need to make a yummy ginger and plum glaze for some salmon I planned to have Niksdad grill. I was so confident that I even Tweeted my intent. (Last time I do that, huh?)

Well, in my defense, I have to say that I knew Niksdad was on his way home from Sam’s Club with a flat of plums that I intend to stew and puree for some of my son’s meals. How was I to know that not a bloody plum in the bunch would be ripe? Four o’clock found me dashing to the grocery store to pick up a few ingredients —like plum jam— so I could try out the plan which had been brewing in my head all afternoon.

Little did I know that my local grocery store doesn’t carry plum jam.

Recipe? Me? Nope, I didn’t have a recipe, either. But I had a good plan— so I improvised. And voila! Grilled Salmon with apricot ginger glaze and green onions was born.

Oh, did I mention I ran out of aluminum foil to wrap the fish for the grill? Yep. Tough to make an ooey-gooey caramelized hunk of fish on the grill without foil. (But if anyone has any alternative ideas, please share?) So...Plan B, or is it C?

BAKED salmon with apricot ginger glaze and green onions made the final cut. Whew. The best part is that it’s super easy to make, looks impressive as heck, and tastes yummy. And I’m not even that fond of fish to begin with!

Ingredients:

1 ½ - 2 pounds salmon fillet
*(I splurged and bought one huge fillet at the market today)
1 TBSP Ginger juice
3 TBSP Plum vinegar (may sub. plain or garlic rice vinegar)
4 TBSP Apricot preserves
3 TBSP Molasses
4 TBSP Brown sugar
3 TBSP Water
3 TBSP GF flour blend (may use regular flour, if you prefer)
2 Green onions, chopped
6-8 pieces Crystalized ginger (optional)

Preheat oven to 375F.

In a small bowl or large measuring cup (should be microwave safe):
Mix all wet ingredients together
Whisk in flour until smooth
Add brown sugar, whisk until dissolved
Microwave on high approximately 45-60 seconds —long enough to let flavors blend

Prepare 9x13 baking dish (I use PAM spray) and place salmon in the pan, skin side down.

Pour glaze over salmon. It will pool in the pan; that's ok.
Sprinkle crystallized ginger over salmon.



Bake 25 minutes or until fish is fully cooked. This will depend on the size and thickness of the fillet.

Sprinkle with green onion and serve.



Serving suggestions:
Add a side of steamed rice with almond slivers and steamed snow peas or broccoli or serve with Asian-style coleslaw made with a sesame vinaigrette.

Notes:
The flour, while not absolutely necessary, will help give the glaze its smooth finish; it helps keep the sugars from crystallizing completely.

I used ginger juice for convenience. You may use fresh ginger —minced or grated is fine. Note that cooking with ginger can be tricky; it's easy to us too much and your meal can taste bitter. With the ginger juice, you can always add more if you like a little more "zing." You can also sprinkle fresh ginger on top just before baking.

I cooked my fish with the green onions. Next time, I'll add them before serving; the heat completely overpowered them and they lost their flavor —which is necessary to balance the fruity, gingery glaze.

Ideally, this would have been cooked in a foil pouch on medium high heat on the grill for approximately 20-25 minutes. Next time...


What are some of your favorite ways to eat fish? Do you like fish but shy away from cooking it? Is there a recipe you're looking for? Let us know!