Back in April, I hit Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill and loved the Honey-Ancho Chile Glazed Salmon. I wanted to reproduce the dish at home while making it at least partly “my own,” so I decided to make a few enhancements.
Maple Ancho-Glazed Salmon
1/3 cup pure maple syrup (darker is better)
1 Tbsp ancho chile powder
1 Tbsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp smoked Spanish paprika
2 lbs salmon, cut into four 8-ounce fillets
1. Preheat your grill for direct grilling. If you’re cooking indoors, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and set a heavy, oven-proof saute pan or skillet over medium-high heat.
2. Season the salmon with salt and pepper.
3. To grill: Place the salmon over the coals/flame, seasoned side down, and cook until a nut-brown crust has formed, four to five minutes depending on your heat level. Turn the fish and baste the cooked side with the maple syrup mixture. Cook with the skin side down until cooked through to your desired level, three minutes for medium, five for well done.
To cook indoors: In about 1 Tbsp of vegetable or olive oil, sear the seasoned side for two and a half minutes. Flip and cook the skin side for two minutes. Baste and place in the oven until cooked to the desired level of doneness, around three minutes for medium and around six minutes for well done.
Also, if you decide to make his side sauces, you can cheat on the black bean sauce and use canned black beans, simmering them for about fifteen minutes with the aromatics. I’ve made the jalapeño crema by placing heavy cream and the roasted, seeded pepper in a cup and whizzing them with my stick blender. The blade’s action will partially whip the cream, creating a crème fraîche-like consistency for a significantly lower price.
Keith, long time fan of your baseball work, just recently discovered your cooking work (which is also top notch).
One note about cooking salmon. And this depends on the particular salmon that you are using.
We go through a lot of Kenai River red salmon every year, and we almost always cook them skin side down in order to keep the fat on the fish. If you grill it skin up, you lose all of the fat.
Again, this probably varies by the particular fish you are using. I would not mind cooking it skin up on a fish from the midwest or atlantic salmon or (shudder) farmed salmon. But the higher quality your salmon, the more of that fat you want to keep.
As for my own prep/cook methods, I like taking whole fillets out (parties, weekends at the cabin, etc). I use a mix of maple syrup, thai garlic chili sauce, salt, pepper, and the zest of whatever lemon/lime I have laying around. I throw it in a bag, vacuum seal it and throw it in the cooler.
Keep it up
Josh
Sounds good. I’ve only just gotten brave enough to start cooking fish recently (it’s an expensive thing to screw up), so I’m looking for good recipes.
Do you ever grill whole fish? If so, what are some of your favorite choices and/or preparations?
I actually make a pretty similar salmon pretty often. I use a brown sugar rub instead of the honey and dry mustard instead of dijon, but the chili is there and the taste mixture I’m sure is pretty similar. I might try this one too, just to compare.
Josh, I (living in Finland) get a lot of fresh Norwegian salmon up here and regardless of the fat quality I like to cook it as Keith is suggesting here. First of all it gives the fish the crust that makes my mouth water, secondly, the skin ends up falling right off when seared, making for easy eating. In my experience if one cooks only on the skin side down the salmon has less overall flavor and the skin often sticks to the cooking surface, even on fairly low heat. But I would like to hear other opinions on this.
Chris- Whole grilled fish is one of the simplest and most delicious ways to prepare fish. Assuming you have good fish its pretty easy to prepare. Generally for whole grilled fish, look to the Greeks, they have this mastered.
Get a good fresh whole fish like red snapper or sea bass. The eyes should be clear not milky. Have your fish monger clean it.
(1)Rinse the fish inside and out.
(2)Pat the fish dry inside and out.
(3)Season inside and out with slat and pepper. Oregeno and or Thyme if you like.
(4)Brush both sides with olive oil.
(5)Place some lemon slices inside.
(6)Broil for 2-3 minutes aside.
The same treatment works well for fillets and steaks. As long as the fish is fresh and you don’t over cook it, its really hard to mess up.
This seasoning and syrup combination is even better on a cedar-plank cooked filet. Use a skinless salmon filet and glaze with the PURE maple syrup (no Mrs. Buttersworth please) at the start of cooking. No need to flip the fish at any point – just grill on the plank until it flakes with a fork, usually about 10-12 minutes on my grill.