Bourbon Maple Peppery Salmon

I think my favorite thing about crispy skin salmon is that it looks quite impressive, but it's actually quite easy. This recipe takes advantage of the fact that maple goes surprisingly well with all different kinds of peppers. I'm still using my amazing bourbon maple syrup, but don't worry, this one works brilliantly with regular syrup too.

Since I've already put up a more in-depth guide on how to make crispy skin salmon, I'm not going to bore you with repeating all the details (just the basics here). I'll simply leave a link to the previous recipe here in case you need a refresher.

Ingredients:

4-6 oz salmon filet with the skin on
Salt
Pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp bourbon aged maple syrup
⅛ tsp red pepper flake
⅛ tsp ground white pepper

Directions:

Lightly score the skin of the salmon and salt and pepper both sides. Pour the olive oil into a cast iron or nonstick skillet over medium heat. While the oil heats up, mix together the syrup, red pepper and white pepper.

Once the oil is shimmering, place the salmon in the pan, skin-side down, making sure to lay it away from you. When the salmon is in the pan, give the pan a little shake to keep the skin from sticking.

Once the salmon is cooked about three-quarters of the way through, flip onto the flesh side and lightly brush the skin side with the peppery syrup. After 30 seconds, flip the salmon out onto a plate and brush the flesh side with the remaining syrup.

Crispy Skin Salmon with Honey Mustard

As a fan of Gordon Ramsey's Hell's Kitchen, I have seen countless chefs screw up crispy skin salmon. I'd never had it but wanted to try making it... but I was a little nervous since I don't have too much experience with cooking fish.

Meet Adam. We look nothing alike.

Luckily, I'm friends with Adam, my fish monger. Adam and I spent an evening cooking various kinds of seafood, a lot of his tips made it into my mussels recipe, and one of the things I asked him to teach me was how to make crispy skin salmon.

Because this recipe is a bit trickier, and is something I don't think many people have tried, I'm including some more in-process shots for reference.

Ingredients:

2 salmon filets with skin on, about 3-4 oz each
Salt
Pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp dijon mustard

Directions:

Flip your salmon filets over so they are skin-side up and cut shallow lines, not much deeper than the skin, diagonally along the length, about 1.5 inches apart. Then liberally salt and pepper both sides.

My knives were a bit dull, so we ended up slicing deeper than intended.

Heat a cast iron skillet or griddle over medium heat and pour on the olive oil, making sure to evenly coat the pan. Fish sticks really easily so you want to make sure you have a good non-stick surface. While the skillet is getting to temp, in a small bowl, mix together the honey and dijon mustard until smooth.

Once the griddle is hot, place the fish, skin-side down, in the pan. Leave it there. 90% of the cooking is going to be done with the skin side down.

Herein lies the tricky bit. How done do you like your salmon? I'm a risky fellow and I like mine to be a little raw in the middle, so I want a hotter pan so the skin gets crispy with a shorter cooking time. My wife, on the other hand, wants hers a little more well done, so for her I need a cooler pan that won't burn the skin over the longer cooking time.

How do you know when to flip? Well you can actually just watch the side of your salmon. The flesh changes color as it cooks, so if you want your filet rare, once it gets about three quarters of the way up, flip it. If you want it well done, wait until the color reaches almost all the way to the top

Once you have flipped it, lightly brush the honey mustard onto the skin. Let the salmon cook skin-side up for about 30 seconds. Remove from the pan and flip, skin-side down, onto a plate before brushing the remaining honey mustard onto the top.

Let the fish rest for about 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy with a side salad for lunch or with a salad and some quinoa for a filling dinner.

Roasted Sea Bass with Herbed Quinoa

This is my last recommended meal for Valentine's Day. Like my beef and vegetarian suggestions, I've provided instructions on how to get both parts of the meal out at the same time. This dish is another show stopper that will be sure to impress your significant other this Valentine's Day.

Ingredients:

Sea Bass:

12 oz sea bass filet
1 t of salt
1 T of shredded dill
Lemon slices
1 T of butter

Quinoa:

½ C of quinoa
1 C of vegetable stock
1 T of shredded dill
Zest of 1 lemon
Salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Start with zesting the lemon you are using for the sea bass since you can use that lemon zest for the quinoa. Butter the bottom of an oven proof dish, be it skillet, casserole, or baking dish, and place the sea bass, skin side down, on the dish. Evenly salt the sea bass and evenly distribute the dill and the lemon slices on top of the sea bass.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until the fish flakes easily or reaches an internal temp of 145.

While the sea bass cooks, boil the quinoa in the vegetable stock until the liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Stir in the dill and the lemon zest and salt to taste.

To serve, portion the sea bass and the quinoa and enjoy a pescaterian dinner for two.