I often recommend that my patients eat more salmon and they often ask me for new ways to cook it. So here is one of my most requested recipes, popular because it is easy to prepare and full of fresh flavors. If you don’t have tangerines, substitute other citrus fruit like oranges, mandarins or clementines.In the winter, wild salmon isn’t available fresh and frozen fish can turn out dry. I have two strategies to ensure that the finished dish is moist and tender: I use a grill pan to minimize contact with the hot surface and residual heat to finish cooking the salmon through.
If you have enough tangerines, make extra sauce and turn what is leftover into a citrus vinaigrette: whisk in white wine vinegar (or other vinegar) and extra virgin olive oil to taste and toss with your favorite salad greens.
-1 cup fresh squeezed juice from 2 to 3 tangerines
-1 tsp freshly grated ginger
-Sea salt to taste
-Ground peppercorn
-Extra virgin olive oil
-1 pound wild salmon fillets or steaks at room temperature, cut into individual (4 oz) portions
Add the tangerine juice, grated ginger, and a small pinch of ground peppercorn to a small saucepan. Warm the mixture over medium heat until it comes to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until reduced to approximately 1/3 cup, about 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with sea salt to taste.
While the sauce reduces, preheat the grill pan over medium heat until hot. Brush the salmon with olive oil and season it with sea salt and ground peppercorn. Place the fish, seasoned-side down, on the grill pan. Brush the other side with olive oil and season with sea salt and peppercorn.
Cook until brown grill marks appear, about 5 minutes. Turn the fish over. Cook for one more minute, then turn off the heat. Cover and allow the fish to finish cooking with residual heat, about 5 more minutes (depending on the thickness of the salmon) until flaky and just cooked through. Do not overcook.
Serve the salmon immediately with the sauce.
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