Red Pepper Jelly Glazed Salmon

This past weekend, after toiling to winterize our gardens, Brad and I wanted to make a nice supper together. We love to cook together and unfortunately it doesn't happen often enough.  Fresh salmon fillets are one of our favourite foods to eat so we bought a rather large salmon fillet to share.  Our kids, bless their hearts, opted to 'dine' on frozen pizza instead of partaking of the fish (sigh). 

I had a hankering for something 'sweet with heat' and my first thought went to the Red Pepper Jelly that I made this past summer as the basis for the glaze.  Ohhhh, man.  Was this glaze good.  Sweet with heat, y'all!  It doesn't get better than that!

I'm a self proclaimed hot food wimp, as many of you know.  My homemade red pepper jelly isn't as spicy as some but this glaze had just the right amount of heat (your mouth is hummin' a bit at the end of the meal) but not so much that you're sweating and guzzling down some milk to give your mouth some relief. And the touch of sweetness rounded things out.  

Between the two of us Brad and I inhaled the entire salmon fillet, mounds of grilled veggies and some rice.  We were so enamoured with our meal that we quite literally fist bumped each other for a meal well done!  Paired with a good bottle of wine this was a fabulous way to end a tiring day.

1.5 lbs of salmon fillets, skin left on
2/3 cup red pepper jelly
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 tbsp fresh ginger, very finely diced (or grated)
2 tsp sesame oil
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 green onions, sliced

About an hour before the meal: 

Rinse fish and pat dry with a paper towel.

In a small bowl, combine red pepper jelly, rice vinegar, soy sauce, ginger, sesame oil, garlic and red pepper flakes.  Note: If your red pepper jelly is on the thicker side, you may want to heat it in a small saucepan to loosen it up and then add the other ingredients.  My jelly was fine to mix up without heat.

Pour half of the marinade into a shallow dish large enough to fit the fish.  Place fish, skin side up, into the marinade.  Place dish into the fridge for at least an hour.

Heat your BBQ to medium-high heat.  Grease a piece of aluminum foil and place it, greased side up, in the centre of your grill.  Place fish on top of the foil, skin side down, and close the lid of your BBQ.  Discard the marinade you just used for the fish.  Cook salmon for about 15 minutes or until it flakes easily with a fork.

Just before serving drizzle some of the remaining marinade (make sure that it's not the marinade that you already used with the fish!) over the cooked salmon and sprinkle with green onion.  Serve immediately with rice and grilled veggies.  Serve the extra sauce alongside your meal so you can drizzle it on the veggies, rice, every bite of salmon.  You will get no judgment about excessive glaze usage from me.

Yield: 2-4 people

Inspired by: http://www.bhg.com/recipe/seafood/pepper-jelly-and-soy-glazed-salmon/