Maple Salmon

The Salmon Collection — Day 4

Sweet maple syrup, piquant aromatic garlic and the distinctive taste of salmon create a sophisticated balance of flavor in this unique recipe. It’s so simple it could be prepared on any day of the week but elegant enough to serve to company — absolutely “fishlicious!”

My friend Sheila Ballweg-Pulju found the original version on Allrecipes.com a number of years ago. We’ve both enjoyed making it ever since. CJK

Maple Salmon

(Sheila Ballweg-Pulju)

1/4 cup maple syrup

2 tbsp. soy sauce

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/8 tsp. ground black pepper

1 lb. salmon

In a small bowl, mix the maple syrup, soy sauce, garlic, garlic powder and pepper.

Spray a shallow baking dish with no-stick spray. Place the salmon in the dish and coat with the maple syrup mixture. Cover the dish and marinate the salmon in the refrigerator for 30 minutes, turning once.

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Place the baking dish in the preheated oven and bake the salmon for 15 to 20 minutes, or until it easily flakes with a fork.

Yield: 4 servings

A note from Sheila: This easy recipe been a family dinner favorite since the day I discovered it. I’ve served the salmon the next day as an appetizer, on crackers and in salads but it’s so good that we rarely have any left over. 

A note from Carol: I wanted to prepare this special recipe for dinner recently but found that there was no time to marinate the fish. So, I prepared the marinade and put it in a baking dish, placed the salmon (skin side down) in the marinade, poured several spoonfuls of it over the topside of the fish and set the dish in the preheated oven. When it was finished baking I again poured several spoonfuls of the marinade — which had reduced beautifully — over the salmon again. I served the fish and the rich-tasting marinade, which I then called a “sauce,” together and it was fabulous!

Be sure to check out Sheila’s other recipes on “Food, Faith and Fellowship.” They include a scrumptious bittersweet chocolate truffle tart, enticing red velvet cake and her mother’s unique recipe for lemon bars.