Salmon

I've mentioned before, my husband loves fish. We had Salmon Friday night for dinner and it was fabulous! I usually bake or broil our salmon with some lemon pepper. But, I wanted something just a TAD bit different. So, after picking up the salmon, I saw the store had Ken's brand marinade on sale. I found the No Sodium Lemon Pepper Marinade and grabbed that. When I got home, I put the salmon in my season and serve container from Tupperware, added 1/2 Cup of the marinade, covered it, tossed it around a bit and put it in the fridge. See the recipe below for more details!
Lemon Pepper Marinated Salmon
1/2 Cup Ken's brand no sodium Lemon Pepper marinade
1 pound fresh salmon
1 fresh lemon

Take salmon and place in a marinade container. Add marinade, shake or toss to coat. Place in refrigerator and let sit for at least 30 minutes--longer if you want a stronger flavor. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place salmon in a foil lined baking dish, skin side down. Top with slices of fresh lemon and bake for 20 minutes.

To check if salmon is done--it should be pink in color, flaky and when you press the back of your fork down onto it, it should give. Fish keeps cooking even after you have taken it out of the oven, thus you need to be careful not to cook it too long. If you want, you can bake it at a higher heat for a shorter amount of time--425 degress F for 10 minutes (for each inch of thickness).

Remove lemon from top and squeeze out juices. Enjoy!

*Note, I don't bother removing the skin because it just peels off once cooked. My husband will sometimes eat the skin (Yuck!) so it doesn't bother either of us. I HATE trying to take the skin off before cooking, thus my method!

Hubby's Rating:
Love it. I seriously can't go wrong with fish dishes or pizza!!

My Take:
Easy, fast and simple. I served it with a tossed salad and corn on the cob. A nice summer meal!

Haddock

We usually save fish for Meatless Mondays, but I forgot to pull chicken from the freezer this morning and I didn't remember until 5:45pm when I was getting out of work, Uh-Oh! So I picked up some haddock that was on sale. We haven't had haddock in a while. It's a nice white fish with not a lot of fishy flavor, if you cook it correctly.

I asked the market owner for a simple recipe to try. I didn't want to come home and look for a recipe on-line and find out I don't have all the ingredients. The market owner told me what to do, but didn't give me any measurements. So, here is what I did.

Seared Haddock
1/2-3/4 lb Fresh Haddock
2 Tbsp Butter
2 Tbsp Olive Oil (NOT EVOO)
Juice from 1/2 medium lemon

Heat cast iron skillet on med-high with oil and butter. Once butter is melted, add haddock. Sear for 2-3 minutes, then repeat on other side. Cover pan, turn down heat to med-low and let fish cook for 10-15 minutes. Plate and squeeze lemon over haddock, serve with a fresh salad.

Husband's Rating:
Love it! My husband is a HUGE fish fan. He loves haddock, salmon, trout, tuna and swordfish. AND he loves fishing. So, although he didn't catch the fish we had tonight, he was very happy with it.

My Take:
I liked the flavor of the fish, but as I was searing it, it fell apart. I'm not sure if my pan wasn't hot enough, or if the fish wasn't thick enough. But once it fell apart that first turn, there was no going back. I would have liked more seasoning--maybe lemon pepper, maybe just a dash of pepper...something to spice it up a bit. But, hubby loved it, so we'll probably try it again in another 2-3 weeks.


I served the haddock with a salad of fresh romaine hearts. It was soo good! I didn't feel like having any of the dressings we had in the fridge (and we have a wide selection). So I decided to make my own. I've made deli spreads (dijonaise, chipotle mayo, etc.) before, but never my own dressing. I didn't follow a recipe, just went with what I thought would taste good.

Sweet and Sour Dijon Dressing
(enough dressing for 2 medium sized salads)
Juice from 1/4 of medium sized lemon (if making this dressing to go with haddock, just use some of the leftover lemon juice from above recipe)
1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
1 tsp Brown Sugar
1 tsp Olive Oil

Add more or less brown sugar and lemon juice for your tastes.

Husband's Rating:
Hubby doesn't eat any dressing except italian and french, so he didn't try this dressing, sorry there is no hubby rating!

My Take:
I loved it! Tomorrow I will add a bit more brown sugar, or try some honey (we didn't have any on hand this evening). Kind of glad I wasn't into any of the dressings we had already!