Honey Chili Lime Glazed Salmon

Don't you just adore friends bearing gifts--we do!  In his bachelor days RT did a lot of fishing, but sadly that came to an abrupt end when we started farming SERIOUSLY.  But every now and then an old fishing buddy will arrive with a few tales and other "fishy" stuff.  Last week a friend  traveling between Alaska and New Mexico stopped with the most gorgeous salmon filets!!

I am killer good at grilling salmon but it was way below freezing so I decided to broil it--NOT a good idea.  The heat was too close and too intense and the salmon overcooked.  HEARTBREAK.

Having another beautiful filet I did some heavy research and decided to bake it with a protective glaze to keep it moist and beautiful.  I found a great recipe for a lemon, mustard, parsley glaze at Natasha's Kitchen but I was out of  parsley and lemons, and who wants to go shopping on a beautiful Sunday afternoon!  I did however have fresh cilantro and limes so I changed it up a bit.

Honey Chili Lime Salmon glaze

Glaze before emulsion

I squeezed one and a half limes into this bowl, reserving a few slices from the center.  I poured in a good tablespoon of honey, added fresh minced garlic and a pinch of red pepper flakes,  chili powder, salt and pepper.  Tasting my concoction and deeming it perfect I added olive oil and whisked it into this beautiful emulsion.
 

Glaze emulsion

Roasted onion and cilantro infused EVOO--you can see the gorgeous filet just behind the bottle

 Our nephew gave us this amazing roasted onion and cilantro infused extra virgin olive oil--perfect for this recipe.  (See what I mean about friends bearing gifts!)  Any good tasting olive oil will do but I was just thrilled to use this gift.

Freshly minced cilantro

 I was not sure if the cilantro would survive the baking so I reserved it.  I popped a slice of lime onto each filet and put them in a hot hot oven, setting the timer for six minutes just to be safe.

Salmon filets glazed and ready for the oven

After six minutes I checked on the filets and re-glazed them.  I set the timer for another six minutes and warmed our plates.  I let the salmon cook for a total of 18 minutes and then let it rest another few before dressing each filet with fresh cilantro and a last little drizzle of glaze.

I paired the salmon with Roasted Vegetables with Moroccan Couscous.  

Perfetto!

Honey Chili Lime Glazed Salmon

Preheat oven 450.

2 limes

1-2 cloves garlic, minced finely

1 TB honey

½ tsp. chili powder

¼ tsp. red pepper flakes

salt and freshly ground pepper

1/3 c. extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

1/3 c. fresh cilantro, minced

3-4 salmon filets

Line a deep-sided baking sheet with foil—seriously, do not skip this step.  Rinse and pat dry salmon filets with paper towels and set skin side down on the baking sheet. Sprinkle each filet with a bit of salt.

Slice the limes in half and make a slice for each filet.  Squeeze the limes into a small mixing bowl.  Add the garlic, honey, chili powder and red pepper flakes, a pinch of salt and pepper.  Stir to mix all ingredients and dissolve the honey.  Taste it at this point and adjust it to suit your tastes.

Whisk the EVOO into the other ingredients creating an emulsion, a lovely thick dressing type glaze.  Coat each filet with glaze, top with a slice of lime and bake for 6 minutes. 

After baking for 6 minutes, remove the baking tray and re-glaze each filet.  The thinner portions of each filet cooks faster than the thicker, so I moved the slices of lime to protect the thinner parts.  Return to the oven for another 6 minutes and continue to cook until done. 

When cooked through, remove filets from the oven and add another optional glazing and finish with fresh cilantro.