Maple Marinated Salmon

This past winter here in Southern NH has been down right rotten.  Its been cold. Its been grey. Freezing COLD temperatures for days and days in a row.  A s$#@-ton of snow + ice.  And REALLY, really COLD temperatures....opps, I guess I already said that.  But the good news is that now we have entered into the month of April so fingers crossed, the warmer weather is not too far away.  The other good news is that maple sugaring is in full swing right now in these parts of the woods.  The sap is running in our beautiful maple trees and loads of sugar houses have that lovely, fluffy steam coming out of it as the sap boils down into syrup.  In an effort to celebrate warmer temps ahead of us, I recently whipped up a delicious, simple and full of flavor salmon dinner.  And not just in ordinary salmon dinner at that.  Salmon that was marinated in a wonderful sauce of the sweetness of maple syrup, the saltiness of soy sauce and the awesomeness of crushed garlic.  A fantastic trio of flavors! 

Believe it or not I don't have much experience preparing fish.  It has only been in the past few years that I have been really making an effort to cook fish more often.  I was on top of the world with happiness when this salmon recipe came out so good.  In all honesty I was extremely proud of myself because of my lack of experience in the kitchen with fish.  I now have a new found confidence with making fish and I can't wait to make this recipe again!   I know that you will enjoy this treasure of a salmon recipe as much as my family and I did. 

You will need to marinate the fish in a mixture of maple syrup, soy sauce and crushed garlic for about 30-45 minutes before you bake it.  So just keep this time frame in mind when you plan to make this recipe.  For a perfect spring-time meal serve this fish along side some tender green beans and brown rice. You may actually think you are in a gourmet restaurant when you bit into the fish.  It's that good!

And if you are in need of some maple syrup I highly recommend you purchase it from my dear friends at Woodard's Sugar House - Mark and Katie's syrup is the BEST! And Katie even has a fabulous blog called, Maple Mama. So many great sources in one spot!! :-)

Maple Marinated Salmon 

 (recipe discovered on Cooking Classy)

Ingredients -

2 (4-6 oz) skinless salmon fillets 

1/3 cup pure maple syrup

3 Tbsp soy sauce

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

green onions and freshly ground pepper, for garnish 

Directions - 

In a medium bowl, whisk together maple syrup, soy sauce and crushed garlic.  Place salmon fillets into a baking dish and then pour marinate over the fillets - coating them well before covering them with plastic wrap and refrigerating.  Allow to marinate for 30-45 minutes - turning fish at least once as it marinates.  

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Being careful to save the marinade, place the fish into a greased 9x13 pan and bake in preheated oven until fish is baked through - about 15 minutes.  

While fish is baking pour remaining marinade into a small sauce pan and heat over medium heat.  Bring to a boil stirring frequently.  When it boils reduce heat and cook for another minute or two.  Pour sauce over baked fish before serving. Sprinkle with sliced green onions and freshly ground pepper. Serve and enjoy! :-) 

Happy Maple Marinated Salmon Baking!