Maple Salmon: Take your shorelunch up a notch with this easy recipe
Image Via 100 Acre Woods Photograpy

Maple Salmon: Take your shorelunch up a notch with this easy recipe

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This is a simple yet delicious recipe that can be prepared at home, at the cottage or even on a secluded island. In fact, I’ve cooked this exact dish in a cast iron skillet over an open fire on a Canadian Shield shoreline. I always talk about flavour combinations and this recipe is no exception: crisp and caramelized, it’s sweet, salty and buttery. Now that’s my kind of shorelunch! Serves 4.

  • ½ tsp kosher salt
  • Fresh ground black pepper to taste
  • 1/3 cup maple syrup
  • 1/3 cup soy sauce
  • 4 5-oz salmon fillets
  • 1 cup dried yellow lentils
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1 tbsp canola oil
  • 8 cipollini onions (or pearl onions), peeled
  • 2 tbsp cold butter
  • ½ cucumber, small dice
  • 1 orange, cut into sections
  • 2 radishes, thinly sliced
  • 1 tbsp chopped parsley

Instructions

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  1. Mix salt, pepper, maple syrup and soya sauce in a sealable bag, then add salmon. Carefully distribute marinade around salmon, then let sit for 1 hour.
  2. Meanwhile, place lentils in pot of salted water and bring to a boil; cook until tender, then strain and rinse. Return lentils to pot and season with salt and pepper. Add butter, stir and keep warm.
  3. Remove salmon from bag (reserve marinade for later) and place on paper towels to absorb excess moisture. Heat a heavy-bottomed frying pan over medium-high heat, then add canola oil and sauté cipollini onions for 1 minute, turning occasionally.
  4. In the same pan, add salmon fillets and sear each side for one minute. Reduce heat to medium, add reserved marinade and cold butter, and cook salmon for another 3 minutes; occasionally baste with marinade.
  5. Spoon salmon and marinade onto plate, and top with cucumber, orange, radish and parsley. Serve with the warm lentils.

For the glass

Henry of Pelham’s Cuvée Catharine Rosé Brut
Henry of Pelham’s Cuvée Catharine Rosé Brut

The attractive fruit flavours of Henry of Pelham’s Cuvée Catharine Rosé Brut pair nicely with the maple and soy accents of this salmon dish. And there’s nothing like a glass of cool sparkling rosé on a warm summer afternoon.