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My new favorite weeknight recipe: a simple baked bourbon salmon.
I have nothing against shortcuts, but there are certain ones that I do feel a little guilty about. Earlier this week I "made" us a frozen pizza for dinner after a particularly long day at work. I ran on so long about how bad I felt feeding us such crap (all-the-while stuffing delicious slices of Spinach Mushroom frozen pizza in my mouth) , that my husband finally told me to put a sock in it -- that there was nothing wrong with the occasional set-it-and-forget-it dinner from a box if it helps us all keep our sanity and still be fed at the end of the day.
The next morning on the news,the logo for the pizza we'd had the night before popped up on the screen with the one word no one ever wants to see next to a product they have just consumed: RECALL.
Well played, Universe. Well. Played.
With the damage done but not forgotten, I went to the store a few days later to pick up another favorite "lazy" meal: Bourbon Salmon. Our local grocery store has these marinated filets of salmon just waiting to be tossed in the oven on a foil-lined pan to make a delicious entrée while I catch up on the evening news. And by evening news, I mean "Real Housewives of Potomac". One more pan in the oven with some asparagus tossed in olive oil, salt, and pepper and some of my favorite brown rice medley means dinner is DONE with almost no hands-on time.
Then I saw that regular ol' salmon was on sale... and I thought of our previous experience with premade foods this week ... and I decided that there must be a better way to have delicious bourbon salmon with little effort. This recipe requires no marinade ( read: no forethought ), but still creates that delicious sauce coating the fish.
Bourbon Salmon
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1/4 Cup Brown Sugar Packed
- 1 Tablespoon Honey
- 1/2 Tablespoon Garlic Powder
- 2 Tablespoons Bourbon
- 1/2 Tablespoon Salt
- 1/2 Tablespoon Pepper
- 1 lb Salmon Filet
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a jelly roll pan ( or other baking sheet with a rim ) with foil.
- Mix all ingredients up to the salmon in a small bowl to form a paste.
- Place the salmon on the foil-lined pan, and spread the paste on top of the salmon.
- Bake for 8 minutes.
- Baste the salmon with the now-liquid paste that melted off during the cooking process.
- Return to the oven and bake for another 8 minutes, or until the fish flakes easily.
- Once the fish is cooked, remove it from the oven and baste again with the melted paste.
- Let rest for 5 minutes, then serve.
What kind of bourbon do you use? liquor or the bourbon sauce?
I always use what I happen to have on hand - my favorite bourbon: Woodford Reserve! However, I've made it with Evan Williams in a pinch and it's still great!
Marianne, it looks awesome! So much flavors packed on this recipe that makes this simply irresistible, definitely having this on my table!
Marianne, thanks! Very tasty salmon turned out. Very cool photos!
Hi I I made this tonight and I have a couple of comments concerning the recipe instructions. You said to put in one tablespoon of garlic powder. I couldn’t believe that as 1/4 tsp. = clove so your measurements equals 12cloves. Also the mixture was not a paste. It was just a thick liquid. The other thing is your baking times. It really depends on the fish thickness and you should state that in your recipe. How thick your filets were in relation to the time you stated. If the filets are thin, this amount of time will be too dry. I wasn’t very impressed. Are you sure you meant 1tablespoon of garlic powder. You might wish to edit the time and or thickness of the salmon.
Actually the recipe calls for 1/2 tablespoon of garlic powder... could you have read incorrectly??
I updated the recipe after her feedback. I realized not everyone has my love of overwhelming garlic!