Second time's the charm

A fish tale

The other day, I decided that if I didn't get some of this lard off my ass, I was gonna die soon. In February of 2005, I started low-carbin it. I did pretty good, too...lost about 50 pounds. 'Course it took me damn near a year to do it, but I was pretty proud of myself.

It's taken me just two years to pack it back on.

Soooo, here I go again.

Now, the staple of a low carb diet is meat. I don't have a problem with that at all. I'm a carnivore, plain and simple. I love my meat. Beef, chicken, fish, shellfish...doesn't matter. I like it all.

But it is hard to come up with different...and acceptable...ways to fix said beef, chicken, fish and shellfish. Which brings me to the whole point of my blathering.

Back during the 'ought five carb-out, I tried some pan-seared salmon. Neither of us was too impressed with it. I wanted to like it...it looked pretty...but I just wasn't impressed. As far as I was concerned, it tasted exactly like canned salmon. Or tuna. Ho hum and far more trouble than openin a can.

So the other day, I was at the grocery store stockin up on fresh veggies and tryin to find something different in the way of meat. There, in the meat case, was the most gorgeous slab 'o salmon you ever did see. As a bonus, it happened to be on sale.

What the hell. I bought it and figured I'd try it again.

Today, I went diggin through my recipe sites for salmon. I found one that looked promising...but, of course, I just hadda fuck with it and make it "better".

HOT DAMN! Was it ever gooooood!

So, without further ado...here's my recipe.

Seared Salmon with Balsamic Glaze

1/3 C. balsamic vinegar
1/4 C. water
1 1/2 T. fresh lemon juice
4 t. packed brown sugar (I used Splenda's Brown Sugar Blend)
2 t. crushed garlic
2 t. ground ginger

(The garlic and ginger were my "tweaks".)

4 (6 oz.) center cut salmon fillets (I had a whole side and cut it into 4 pieces)
2 t. olive or canola oil

Pat salmon dry, season with kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper and set aside.

In a non-stick saucepan, stir together vinegar, water, lemon juice, brown sugar, garlic and ginger and simmer, stirring occasionally, until mixture thickens and reduces (think honey-consistency).

Heat oil in a nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until hot, but not smoking. Increase heat to high and sear salmon, skin side up, until well-browned (3-4 minutes depending on the thickness of the fillets). Turn over and sear on the skin side until just cooked through (another 3-4 minutes).

Transfer salmon to a plate and spoon glaze over the fish.

It was delicious...but it made a big ole greasy mess on the stove. 'Course, I have an electric stove and can't control the heat very well and I have an essentially useless exhaust fan. I'm thinkin we'll try it outside on the grill the next time.

Yummy, yummy, yummy!