Recipe: Teriyaki Glazed Salmon with Broccoli and “Yum Yum” Sauce

I always hear about how fish is really good for you and everyone should eat at least one serving of fish a week. I grew up with a British grandma who loved fish-and-chips, a Catholic father who occasionally subscribed to the “Fish on Friday” practice, and cousins who lived just a car ride away from the Maryland shore, but fish was never a big part of my diet. My mother used to make tuna noodle casserole (tuna salad to our family) in the summertime and we’d occasionally dine out at Red Lobster (fine dining as a young child), but fish was always, well, “fishy” to me; I mostly stuck to fried shrimp and the occasional crab cake, but that was about it. After college, while I was living back home in Pennsylvania, I took some culinary arts classes at the local community college and in one of the classes, we focused on different food groups each week. During one of my class periods, we focused on fish and seafood; when we sat down to eat, we had fried catfish, salmon topped with mango salsa, oven baked red snapper, shrimp scampi, and more—it was the perfect opportunity to try food I wouldn’t ordinarily be open to and it was the push I needed to delve into cooking and eating fish.

Last week, smack dab in the middle of our new and ongoing “eating healthy” lifestyle, I decided my boyfriend and I could use a little salmon–some heart healthy Omega-3 fatty acids sounded like the perfect addition to our diet. Salmon is a hit-or-miss fish for me—certain types, like sockeye, are too “fishy” tasting while others seem to be made more for lox, sushi, and other cold dishes. I picked cheap yet tasty-looking salmon filets from my favorite local grocery store, hoping for a subtle flavor, and they were perfect. My boyfriend and I have been on an Asian flavor kick lately, and a quick visit to Pinterest gave me the result “teriyaki salmon” over and over again, so that’s what I aimed for.

Serves: 2

Prep. time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 15-20 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

 

Ingredients

• Approx. 1/2 cup soy sauce
• Approx. 1/4 cup brown sugar
• Approx. 1-2 tbsp. honey
• Garlic powder
• Approx. 1-2 tbsp. mirin or sherry
• 2 salmon filets, skin on
• 1 head broccoli, cut into florets
• 1 bunch green onion, finely chopped
• Vegetable or peanut oil

For Japanese “Yum Yum” dipping sauce:

• Light mayonnaise
• Water
• Approx. 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• Approx. 1/4 tsp. paprika
• Approx. 1 tsp. sugar
• Approx. 1 tsp. tomato paste (or ketchup)
• Approx. 1 tbsp. melted butter

 

Directions

In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, brown sugar, honey, mirin, and a pinch of garlic powder. Pour into a bag, add salmon to the bag, seal, and place in the fridge to marinate for 20-30 minutes.

Heat a little oil in a medium pan over medium high heat, then add the broccoli and green onion and cook until the broccoli is just starting to brown and crisp slightly. Reduce the heat, add a splash of soy sauce, a pinch of garlic powder, and a little chicken stock and keep the vegetables warm.

Heat a nonstick pan over medium high heat, then remove the salmon filets from the bag of marinade and place skin side up in the pan; reserve the marinade. When the salmon is browned, flip it over to cook the skin side. In the meantime, pour the marinade into a small pot and bring to a gentle boil. Once bubbling, whisk a little water-and-cornstarch mixture into the liquid and let it thicken to a shiny, semi-thick glaze. Brush some of the glaze on the salmon. The salmon, when done, should feel fairly firm when you press a finger down into it and should be lightly pink in the middle and pull easily away from the skin. Serve the salmon with the broccoli and add a drizzle of teriyaki glaze over the broccoli. If you’d like to add a creamy element to the dish, whisk together the ingredients for “Yum Yum” sauce: Add the dry ingredients to a small bowl, then add melted butter, tomato paste, and a little mayo and whisk together. Add a splash of cold water to thin the sauce, then taste—add more mayo to make more sauce and adjust seasoning as desired. Drizzle on the salmon and broccoli or serve as a dip.

 

Cook’s Commentary

Teriyaki sauce is so simple and so perfect—it’s sweet, it’s salty, and it’s somehow meaty too. When cooked down into a gooey glaze, it adds this lip-smacking quality to the salmon, already flavored with the thinned out marinade version of the sauce, and that deep brown color is just stunning. Broccoli is a great, simple side for this dish, and the green onion adds a little pop of flavor to it. I added a bamboo flavored rice to add a little more volume to the dish, but a side of quinoa or brown rice would work just as well, or keep it light and stick to veggies only. This salmon had a light, fresh flavor that shined through the umami goodness of the teriyaki and made for a healthy, filling meal.

Recipe: Soft Pretzel Buns, Brats, and Blue Cheese Slaw

A month or so ago, my boyfriend and I met up with one of his friends from law school and went to the downtown Memphis Farmers Market. On that beautiful sunny day, we played with shelter dogs out for a visit, noshed on food truck food, and filled up a bag each of goodies, including Nutella “Pop-Tarts,” fresh baked ciabatta, and jam. One of my finds that we were quite enthusiastic about was a package of beer-and-cheddar bratwurst from West Wind Farms. While I was dreaming up tasty sides for them (cole slaw, potato salad), John was dreaming up the perfect beer to pair with them, but there was one thing we both thought up that we knew we had to have with them: pretzel buns. Our favorite restaurant in Memphis, Hog & Hominy, has a house-made cheddar beef hotdog served in a homemade pretzel bun that we absolutely adore and I wanted to recreate that taste. After a little research online, I came across a recipe from Jeff Mauro, Food Network’s “Sandwich King,” and I figured, if he’s the king of sandwiches, he oughta know how to make a damn good pretzel bun. Well, these buns weren’t just good, they were phenomenal, and even after we’d had our meal of brats and buns, we’d toast up the leftover buns and eat them as a snack. A touch of honey adds sweetness to the bread, while garlic and little butter adds a salty element, and, when prepared properly, they’ve got that perfect shellacked outside and fluffy-chewy inside.

Yields: Approx. 8 buns

Prep. time: 20-30 minutes

Inactive time: Approx. 1 hour

Cook time: 15 minutes

 

Ingredients 

• 2 tbsp. honey
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup skim milk
• 1 packet active dry yeast
• 2 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 2 small cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 1 cup bread flour
• Approx. 1/2 cup baking soda
• Coarse salt for dusting pretzels

Directions

In a small pot, heat honey, brown sugar, water, and milk to 105*F to 110*F, then pour into the bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle packet of yeast over the liquid mixture and let sit for 10-15 minutes, until the yeast blooms.

In a separate pot, heat butter and garlic together over medium-low heat until butter is melted and garlic is fragrant.

Mix together the flours and add them to the bowl of the mixer with the yeasty mixture, then pour the butter and garlic mixture into the bowl and mix on medium speed until the mixture becomes smooth and elastic in texture and pulls away from the walls of the bowl, approx. 6-8 minutes.

Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat, like Silpat, or parchment paper (or other nonstick product). Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and form into a ball. Cut into 8 equal pieces, then roll each piece into a ball and place onto the prepared baking sheet. Cover with a dish cloth and let them rest in a warm place for 12 to 15 minutes (I left mine out on the counter in the kitchen).

After allowing the dough balls to rest and rise a bit, dust your work surface again and roll the 8 balls into logs about 6-7 inches long. Place back on the lined baking sheet, cover with the dish towel, and let rest in a warm spot for an additional 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 425*F and place one oven rack high and the other one low. Line a second backing sheet with Silpat or parchment paper. In a large pot, bring approx. 8 cups of water to a boil, then add the baking soda. In batches of one pretzel at a time, drop a dough log in the water and cook on both sides each for 30 seconds. Remove with a slotted spatula, lightly dust the outside with coarse salt, place on one of the two baking sheets, and repeat until all of the logs have been dipped and salted. Cut three shallow diagonal slits in the top of each roll.  Bake for 10-13 minutes, rotating the pans between the top and bottom of the oven, until they are shiny brown and fully baked.

 

Brats & Slaw Serving Suggestion

Fully cooked brats can be cooked in a nonstick pan until crispy and browned on the outside and warmed through. To create the blue cheese slaw, blend a few tablespoons each of mayonnaise, sour cream, and blue cheese (or gorgonzola; use a creamier variety for easier blending) with a little salt and pepper. Toss with a prepackaged cole slaw blend (cabbage and carrots) until evenly coated. Serve the brats on pretzel buns topped with the slaw.

The bun, complete with beer-and-cheddar bratwurst and blue cheese cole slaw

Cook’s Commentary

While this most certainly didn’t qualify for the “healthy” category we’ve been aiming for with our dinners lately, this meal was well worth it. The pretzels had that perfect chewy texture that you expect in a soft pretzel, with a little crunch from the coarse salt. The honey and garlic created a sweet-and-savory flavor that make these pretzels perfect with hotdogs, brats, or burgers (if you changed the bun shape), but would pair perfectly with a sweetened cream cheese spread or a dipping of cinnamon sugar. These pretzels are dynamite right out of the oven, but reheat quite well in a toaster oven (don’t cut them open, that way, you get a warm and crispy outside, while the inside still stays fluffy, chewy, and warm).