Not Your Mama's Salmon

I don’t know about you, but I grew up abhorring salmon. My mom may not admit it, but she is a binge-eater like I am. I’m not referring to a true eating disorder; instead I’m taking out those individuals who can eat the same meal over and over again without growing tired of it for months. Even years. Since I was a young child, I’ve binged on countless meals. I’m sure my mom could recall more of these items than I can. However, in the 26 years I’ve known her, I can only name one that she keeps coming back to: SALMON. My mom has eaten salmon, nearly every day that I can remember. And this is nothing to scoff at! It’s no secret that salmon is one of the best things that you can eat. It’s good for your skin, your hair, your blood pressure, not to mention, your waistline. BUT, as a child, I grew to detest the smell of salmon. I could smell it before I sat down for dinner. I could smell it in our house on the weekends (being heated up in the microwave for lunch!) Ugh, just the idea of salmon until my early 20s made me want to gag. Blah! However, as I grew older, my friends introduced me to more and more things (sushi, especially) and my taste for salmon slowly began to change.

Within a couple months of meeting Evan, we began cooking more frequently together. One night we decided on baking a filet of salmon and making garlic mashed potatoes from scratch. I knew little about salmon except that I enjoyed eating it raw from time to time, and couldn’t understand why anyone would ever choose to reheat it in a microwave (such a foul smell!). He surprised me by making a glaze. Didn’t most people just lightly coat this pungent smelling fish in salt, pepper and olive oil?

In a saucepan, my dear boy combined orange juice, brown sugar and a finely diced habanero pepper. He let it simmer wildly on my stovetop for longer than I would have normally allowed. But I trusted him. So I let it boil.

He reduced it down to a gooey paste that smelled sweet, yet disastrously spicy (my favorite!). At this point I could tell, I didn’t need to worry about the result…

So here it is… the salmon glaze recipe that we’ve spent a while refining…

1 large sheet of aluminum foil
1 ½ to 2 lbs. salmon filet (please don’t buy farm raised if you can avoid it)
2 cups + of orange juice (preferably no pulp)
Juice from 1-2 fresh squeezed oranges (tangelos are great for this application)
2 generous handfuls of dark brown sugar (the more the merrier!)
1 super finely diced habanero pepper (2 if you’re like us!)
a couple splashes of soy sauce
1-teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
1-tablespoon honey (optional)

1.    Fold all four edges of the foil to create tiny walls on each side, to prevent any of the glaze from leaking out. Coat the bottom of the foil in PAM or olive oil to keep the salmon from sticking. Place your salmon filet on the top of the foil’s center.

2.    Preheat your outdoor grill to medium.


3.    Combine orange juice and fresh squeezed orange juice in a medium saucepan and bring to a low boil on medium high heat. Add brown sugar and diced habanero peppers at your discretion while the juice simmers.

4.    Cook for 20-25 minutes while the juice reduces down. Continue to add idems slowly as you cook: salt, pepper, honey and soy sauce. Taste carefully as you go, as the glaze is super hot!


5.    Once the glaze has become a sugary, thick, gooey consistency, remove it from the heat.

6.    Use a brush applicator and apply the glaze generously and evenly to the raw salmon filet. Once the filet is coated, place the foil in the center of your pre-heated grill.

7.    Cook salmon for 14-20 minutes depending on your preference (rare or less rare).  Reapply the glaze 2 times while the salmon is cooking.


8.    Remove from grill. Let cool for 3-5 minutes. Serve with garlic mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus!

Enjoy friends! If you need clarification on any of the steps, please ask ☺