Honey Bourbon Glazed Salmon

By zircon50

Café Tips for making this Honey Bourbon Glazed Salmon…

The sauce can be made several hours in advance. When finished cooking, transfer it to a covered jar or container and store at room temperature until ready to use. Just divide in two and use one half for the glaze and the rest for the drizzling sauce.
If you make the sauce ahead and it gets too thick or is boiled too long and gets thick, no problem, just add a teaspoon or two of water and gently reheat. Add more water as needed to achieve syrupy consistency.
Start out with 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes in the sauce. You can always add more later after tasting.
Follow the directions regarding using two pans to prevent excess sauce from burning under the broiler. Believe me, I know this from experience. A dinner party or even a family meal is not fun with a smoke aroma and the smoke detector chiming loudly. Our smoke detector actually has a women’s voice that says “EMERGENCY, EMERGENCY! Smoke detected on the lower level!” Then the “bells” start ringing… yikes! And that’s not even the worst part! Even if Scott isn’t at home, he gets a warning on his iPhone and iPad. All this to say, trust me – use the two pans!
I like to serve this salmon with rice and a green veggie like asparagus or Haricot vests (French green beans). I use a garnish of white and black sesame seeds and some finely sliced chives. You could also use cilantro.

Ingredients

• FOR THE SALMON:
• ⅓ cup honey
• ⅓ cup bourbon whisky
• 2 tablespoon brown sugar
• 2 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon whole grain mustard
• 1 tablespoon finely minced or grated fresh ginger
• 1 medium clove garlic finely minced
• ¼-½ teaspoons red pepper flakes crushed red pepper*
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 4-6 ounce salmon filets
• kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• fresh lime juice

Preparation

Step 1

Line 2 sheet pans with foil for easy clean up. Spray both with cooking spray or rub lightly with oil.

Combine honey, bourbon, brown sugar, soy sauce, mustard, ginger, garlic and red pepper flakes in a small pan. Bring mixture to a boil over medium high heat, stirring continuously.

Reduce heat to medium and maintain a steady boil for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. You'll need to take pan off of the burner and let the bubbling settle down to check it. Mixture should be syrupy and reduced to about one half. It will get a bit thicker as it cools. You may need to boil it for another minute or two to achieve the syrupy consistency.

Add lime juice and stir well to combine. If making ahead, transfer sauce to a covered container and store at room temperature. If serving salmon right away, pour half of this mixture into a small bowl, leave the rest in the pan.

Preheat oven to high broil. Position an oven rack about 6-7 inches from broiling element.
Season salmon lightly with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper on both sides. Brush with sauce on top and sides.

Place it on prepared sheet pan and place pan under broiler. Broil for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and transfer to other pan, flipping each fillet to opposite side (This will prevent smoking when you return pan to oven.) Brush second side with sauce.

Return to broiler for 4 minutes. If top is not nicely browned and slightly charred in places, move rack up one level and cook for another 15 seconds to a minute. Watch carefully at this point so that salmon doesn't burn. If salmon pieces vary in size, you may have to rearrange them half way through the broiling time or remove them as they are finished. Serve with fresh lime wedges.