Grilled Balsamic Salmon

Ok, so making fish took a LOT of courage. I've always convinced myself that fish is something to be eaten in a nice restaurant, not from MY kitchen. BUT in trying to expand my limited culinary skills, when I stumbled across this recipe from Eating Bird Food for an easy Balsamic Salmon, I knew I had to try it because Salmon is my ultimate favorite fish.  J and I ended up really liking this recipe but did make a few modifications to the balsamic glaze. AND SCORE neither of us got sick. However, it was a bit of an adventure getting to the final product. 

Enter my fear of the seafood counter.  The only seafood I have ever brought into my apartment is shrimp.  I went up to the counter and was faced with 5 different types of salmon. All the salmon looked super orange-y and then I notice the sign that all the salmon was farm raised and injected with dye. Uh, what? I am not eating fish that is injected with anything. I abruptly turn and walk quickly away from the counter thinking, "there will be no fish eaten tonight". Instead I made the Skillet Lasagna.  

Not wanting to give up, the next day I decided to head to Whole Foods. I trust Whole Foods with all my being and I know they have a big seafood counter. I headed to the counter and the butcher (is that what they are called at the fish counter?) asked if he could help me. I hate looking clueless (I know, I need to get over that), so I quickly just ask for 2 fillets of the wild caught Salmon. To my horror, I am handed 2 LARGE pieces of fish with the skin on. ACK! Fish skin is GROSS. Can't wait to deal with this at home. 

Once at home, I unwrap my purchase and am staring at 2 very large slabs on salmon. Turns out, I bought double the amount I needed. No big deal, I will just make one fillet and chop into two and save the other piece for later in the week. So the recipe calls for cooking the fish in a large skillet. Eh. I like my salmon grilled. So bring on the George Foreman. Having never grilled fish (duh) I turn to my friend google and find this video Cooking Salmon on the George Foreman. and BINGO this guy instructs on how to remove the skin. Ok, we are FINALLY ready to go. 

Grilled Balsamic Salmon

Serves: 2

Cook time according to Brittany: Less than 30 minutes

ACTUAL cook time according to Rachel: 30 minutes!

How difficult was this for Rachel? Besides the above nonsense, it was actually fairly easy...minus the skin removal. See photo below. 

Ingredients:

2 wild caught salmon fillets (3-4oz each)
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tbsp honey (maybe a little less)
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp red pepper flakes
Salt & pepper to taste

So yeah, check out this piece of fish. I had 2 of them. So so so much to learn.




Directions:

For the Foreman (or any) grill, coat the top of the fish lightly in the olive oil. I have finally become the proud owner of a Misto olive oil sprayer. It is a great way to lightly coat food without using too much oil. Season with salt & pepper

Place the fish skin down (thank god I don't have to look at it) and close lid cooking on high for about 4ish minutes. 

While the fish is cooking, mix together the balsamic vinegar, honey & red pepper flakes. Taste and modify ingredients according to preference.  The original recipe is quite sweet. I added a bit more balsamic.

Once fish is golden brown, coat the top lightly in the glaze and cook for an additional minute.  This does get messy and would work better in the skillet (like the recipe calls for) so once the fish was done, I lightly coated it again with the glaze.

Here comes the fun part. Skin removal. I cut the fish fillet in half but did NOT cut through the skin.  While trying not to gag, I was able to remove half the fillet as seen above.

Trying to remove the 2nd half of the fillet did not go as well. This is something I'm gonna have to work on.  It still tasted great, but before I could enjoy the fish, I made J take out the trash so I wouldn't have to see the skin again. Enjoy!