A very busy week, a very stressful week, has kept me out of the kitchen… and I have missed it so.  As I was finishing up hour number 9 of one very tedious task at work I started thinking that I really needed to take care of my cooking fix today.  Really, what better way to start the weekend.  Well, I can think of a few others….

I decided that I wanted a good fish dish.  Yes, the baked Mac n Cheese is still in my the back of my head (and I’ll get there at some point) but I wanted to do something creative and the Apricot Mustard Salmon was the answer.

Apricot Mustard Salmon Recipe

3 tbsp olive oil

2 salmon cuts

8 oz of apricot preserves (roughly 1 cup)

4 tbsp of coarse ground mustard

1 tbsp minced garlic

2 sliced peppers jalapeño

1/2 cup white wine

2 rosemary sprigs

Salt and Pepper to taste

1) Turn on the oven, set to 400 and let the oven pre-heat as you prep.

2) Heat olive oil over a medium-low flame in a medium sized pan, add the jalapeño peppers and sautee for roughly 3 minutes (until they begin to soften)

3) Add Garlic, heat for an additional minute

4) De-glaze with white wine

5) Add mustard, stir into the mixture

6) Add Apricot preserves and stir in so all ingredients have blended together.

7) Turn heat to low, simmer for roughly 15 minutes while constantly stirring to avoid burning.  The sauce will begin to thicken when ready.

8 ) Place your salmon on a foiled cookie sheet, salt and pepper to taste, add a sprig of rosemary and cover with the Apricot Mustard sauce.

9) Bake for 16 minutes

Salad with Tangy Vinaigrette Recipe

1 bag of mixed baby greens

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 tbsp peanut oil

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp minced ginger

1 tsp honey

5 chopped green onions

10 fresh mint  leaves, chopped

A “Handful” of chopped walnuts

A “Handful” of Feta Cheese

Salt and Pepper to taste

Yea, this one is quite simply… mix your red wine vinegar, oils, ginger, and honey. Pour over the baby greens, add walnuts and cheese, green onions and mint.  Toss vigorously and serve.

Apricot Mustard Salmon

I wasn’t sure how this was going to turn out… but hot damn I was happy.  The sauce is on the sweeter side of the spectrum but the peppers and mustard add a nice after bite that one wouldn’t expect.  In order to cut the sweetness simply add a bit more mustard.  As sad as this sounds, as the salmon was baking away I was eating the extra sauce straight from the pan.  Why let a good thing go to waste, I love it!

The salmon and sauce blended so well.  The sweetness of the sauce was countered by the natural flavors in the fish leading to a near perfect balance.

I like throwing together random vinaigrette dressings.  The thought of honey, nuts and feta cheese seemed to compliment the fish (well,  in my mind) and in reality it did.  The nuts really brought out the taste of the honey, and the honey added to the sauce that was over the fish.

Enjoy!