I wanted salmon this week. Well, to be truthful, I want salmon every week. But a lot of the recipies I’ve read on line have a lot of spices and heavy flavors with salmon.
In my opinion, salmon tastes pretty darn good all on it’s own. But it also can handle heaver spicing too. This week’s goal was to find a light marinade that would enhance the flavor of the salmon instead of add it’s own flavor.
Therfore as you read, the next section
1. I am not a trained chef or nutritionist.
2. I am not a medical professional.
3. I am not a professional photographer.
Ingredients
4 Salmon Fillets, aprox 5 oz each
6 Teaspoons of orange juice
4 Teaspoons of lime juice
1 Teaspoon minced garlic
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Teaspoon Herbes de Provence
Preparation
- Rinse and pat salmon fillets dry.
- In a small bowl combine, orange juice, lime juice, minced garlic, olive oil, and herbes de provence.
- Put salmon fillets and marinade in a ziploc baggie and let it sit for 30 minutes, turning occasionally to ensure the fillets are covered.
Cooking
- Line a pan with foil.
- Remove fillets from the marinade and place in the pan.
- Roast in the oven at 400 degrees for about 12 – 15 minutes until the internal tempreature is between 125 to 145 degrees.
Just a few notes …
First, let me say I am very pleased with this recipe. I was unsure of what I would get to go with the orange and lime, so I browsed the spice section. Herbes de provence is a blend of thyme, rosemary, basil, parsley, oregano, majoram, and lavender. While each one of these herbs seemed fine on their own, together they made the perfect enhancement.
I’ve read a lot of controversy on the web about what tempreature to cook salmon to. Some say farmed to 125 and wild caught to 120, others will say 145 regardless. Undercooking your fish is not ideal especially since it is highly unlikely you can find sushi grade fish in the market. Overcooking it can result in dry fish — not good either. If you press down on the top of the fillet with a fork and it flakes, it’s done.
I prefer to buy fresh fruit and juice it myself instead of buying fruit juice. One mandarine orange gave me 6 teaspoons of juice. One lime gave me 4 teaspoons of juice. I was going for a 2 to 1 ratio of orange to lime, but the 3 to 2 ratio worked out pretty good. As far as garlic is concerned, I get lazy sometimes and use pre-minced garlic. But fresh does have a better flavor.
It is best to not allow your fish to sit in a citrus marinade over 30 minutes or the citrus will begin to break down the proteins, the same as cooking it. A half hour is sufficient for the fish to absorb the marinade flavors.
I’m very happy the way this recipe turned out. If I were to make one change, the next time I do this recipe, I’m going to try a 1 to 1 ratio of orange juice to lime juice.