St. Patty’s Day, Light and Easy

This easy St. Patrick’s entree of salmon glazed with Guinness Extra Stout saves time and calories — leaving you a little extra (time and calories) to drink more beer!  Photo:  Bruce Winland

I celebrated St. Patrick’s Day a little early this year by bottling beer and eating a little corned beef at the requisite Irish pub.  Now that I feel like I need to spend the rest of the week “drying out” at the gym, I decided to break with my Irish-American roots and forgo cooking my traditional corned beef.  Instead, I’m lightening up a bit with an even more traditional Irish dish — salmon.

Salmon is big business on the coast of Ireland and an Irish staple.  You’ll find salmon on just about every Irish menu and served at most traditional Irish celebrations — along with lamb stew, Irish bacon, potato and leek soup, cabbage and, of course Guinness.  Corned beef really doesn’t play a big role in Irish cooking (in Ireland, that is).  In fact, corned beef wasn’t associated with the Irish until the turn of the century (20th that is) when Irish immigrants to the U.S., who couldn’t afford the more traditional Irish bacon, adopted and adapted Jewish corned beef for their new fix. 

While salmon is not always my favorite fish, a nice fillet sourced from an excellent purveyor and prepared with something as enticing as Guinness definitely strikes my fancy.  I actually dreamed up this recipe after a reader commented on last year’s post for Guinness Stout Muffins.  She noted that she loved the idea of cooking with Guinness and wanted to try something with salmon.  The marinade/glaze I came up with is so simple, you’ll go from kitchen to table in less than a half hour…  which gives you more time to drink beer! 

However, if you absolutely must get your corned beef fix (mom!), check out last year’s post for corned beef ideas (hint:  boil the veggies separately!).

The toasted hazelnut topping adds a crunchy, buttery balance to the bittersweet taste of the Guinness glaze and the rich fish. Photo:  Bruce Winland

Recipe:  Guiness Glazed Salmon

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs. Wild Salmon, divided into 6 oz. fillets

1/2 cup Guiness Extra Stout

1/2 cup honey

2 Tbl. brown sugar

2 Tbl. low sodium soy sauce

3 Tbl. dry mustard

1 Tbl. fresh lemon juice

1 garlic clove, smashed and coarsely sliced

1 tsp. espresso flavored sea salt*

1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

chopped hazelnuts

* You can find espresso flavored salt at a specialty store like The Filling Station at Chelsea Market in NYC (where they call it Espresso Brava) or you can create your own by combining 1/2 tsp. finely ground espresso beans and 1/2 tsp. of coarse sea salt.

Prepare

Mix all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.  Add the salmon, skin side up.  Cover and leave at room temperature for 10 - 15 minutes.  Prepare a grill to medium-high heat or heat oven to 350° to roast.  Remove salmon fillets, reserving marinade, and place skin side down on a piece of aluminum foil or roasting pan (if oven cooking) lightly coated with olive oil.  Strain reserved marinade into a medium sauce pan (you can discard the garlic or chop it and use it to saute vegetables as a side dish) and bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat and stir until sauce is slightly thick and reduced to about a 1/2 cup.

Brush glaze on the top of the salmon and place salmon on grill (or oven).  Continue to brush with glaze as you cook each side for about 4 minutes each on grill, 7 minutes each in oven or until center is still rare (it will continue cooking when you remove from heat).  Top with hazelnuts.

Serve over garlic-sauteed spinach and purple potatoes mashed with horseradish for a twist on the classic.  Enjoy with a nice pint of Guinness.

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