Balsamic Glazed Salmon

Balsamic Glazed Salmon

and Happy New Year!!!

Wow! It has been a LONG time since my last BLOG entry!!!!!  The time between the last time I had TIME to sit down and actually BLOG anything is a complete blur.  I took on a second job - I teach an ACT Prep class for UM-Flint on Saturdays.  I know, "glutton-for-punishment." But the extra money was hard to turn down. I have to say, though, I am glad I am NOT a high school teacher. I'll stick with 5th grade.

 I've also taken on the role of "Daisy Scout Leader" for Parker's scout group!! 

I have to admit I was hesitant about 14 Kindergarten-aged girls - but the first meeting I was all by myself "teaching" the girls was a blast!!! 

ANYWAY..............I am committed to being able to continue on my journey with "Another Year in My Kitchen."  However, I am also going to tweak the name to "Another Year in My Kitchen and Other Geeky Stuff I know."  I am also committed to compiling my annual "Another Year in My Kitchen" cookbooks for friends, family, and anyone else I can convince to read it.  I LOVE writing them and appreciate all of the fabulous positive feedback I have received  for my second annual cookbook.  Somehow knowing people read them and like them makes me feel less alone - like I actually have a place in the world all for me. So thanks, kind readers, you have received my outlet into the world with loving hands and I thank you for it.

Happy New Year!!!

Balsamic Glazed Salmon 

I found this recipe and thought it sounded easy and delicious.  I was right!  I actually went to the seafood counter at a local grocery store and had the amount I needed weighed on a scale.  I had never done that before. It made me feel - I don't know - like a cook or chef that knew what she was doing???  The funny part of this whole thing was watching my children walk around the house as it was cooking with the front of their shirts up over their noses because they hated the smell of the salmon as it was cooking.!!!

• 1 1/2 pounds fresh salmon
• black pepper
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 4 1/2 tsp. cornstarch
• 1 3/4 cups chicken stock
• 3 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 tbsp. orange juice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put the salmon fillets in 2-quart glass baking dish.  Sprinkle with black pepper and drizzle the salmon with the olive oil.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes - I had to bake mine for close to 30 minutes before I felt it looked ready - or until the fish flakes easily when tested with a fork.

One cardinal rule is: NEVER OVERCOOK SALMON. Although it is an oily fish, overcooking makes the flesh dry and dense, and it can become quite chewy in texture.

Stir the cornstarch, chicken stock, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, and orange juice in a 2-quart saucepan over high heat.  Using a whisk, cook the mixture until  it boils and thickens.  When done, drizzle the salmon with the balsamic glaze.  I served the salmon with brown and wild rice. It was fantastic!!  Matt was skeptical about the glaze, but admitted when he tasted mine with the glaze that it actually enhanced and complimented the salmon, rather than cover up the taste of the salmon.

  Now for the "Geeky Stuff I Know......"

Part of the 5th grade curriculum in Michigan is to teach kids about the Native American Cultural Regions of North America.  Keeping that in mind, here's a little "trivia," or "Geeky Stuff I know," about the Native Americans living in the Pacific Northwest.

The word "salmon," any variety of fish of the genera "Salmo" and "Oncorhynchus," comes from the Latin "salmo," which later became "samoun" in Middle English. Many Native American tribes depended heavily upon salmon in their diet.

The Indian tribes of the Northwest look upon salmon with great reverence and have special rituals and legends for the yearly salmon run. They look upon the salmon as life, as the salmon has nourished them physically and spiritually since the days when people first came to this region. They would migrate to the Columbia River each year during the spring and fall spawning season, when the salmon hurled themselves upstream from the Pacific Ocean to lay their eggs. During that time, the Columbia River was so thick with the countless salmon that the Indians simply speared or clubbed them to death from their canoes or from the river banks. What the Indians didn't eat fresh, they would air-dry in the river winds to create jerky.

The life cycle of the salmon is an interesting one. Spawned in freshwater streams, the young salmon travel to sea early. Here they live and grow for three or four years. In the spring after they reach maturity, the adult salmon return to their native streams to spawn. As salmon begin their journey home, they will stop eating and live mainly on the oils stored in their bodies. In some mysterious way, they orient themselves and swim homeward. The distances they travel and their amazing return to the exact point where they emerged from their egg sacs. They will leap over any obstacle in their way, such as dams and waterfalls, hurling itself many feet out of the water until it gets over the obstacle or dies of exhaustion in the attempt; there is no turning back. For some unknown reason, the female always dies after spawning.

Chinook Salmon

Chinook or King: Average size 10 to 15 pounds, up to 135 pounds. Soft in texture, very rich in oil, and separates into large flakes, making it excellent for salads and recipes calling for large pieces. Chinook salmon are the largest of the Pacific salmon, with some individuals growing to more than 100 pounds. These huge fish are rare, as most mature Chinook are under 50 pounds. Kings run in the spring.

To cooks, gourmets, and fishermen alike, the salmon is the king of the waters. The distinctive color of the flesh of a salmon is part of its attraction. It can vary from a very delicate pale pink to a much deeper shade, verging on red. In the Northwest, because of the various ethnic and cultural backgrounds, you can find salmon smoked hard in the Indian tradition and salmon smoked light in the Scottish tradition. It can also be as simple as a barbecued salmon dotted with butter and lemon.