My neighbors raved over this recipe!
I gave them a jar of the Habanero Mint Jelly the day I made it. That night we both had salmon cooked with the jelly and we both loved it.
Now for a bit of history... I grew up in Indiana--not exactly the seafood capitol of the US--and we never ate fish. So here I am, in Alaska. I just learned to fish for Red Salmon and now I had several pounds of fresh-caught Red (Sockeye) Salmon and I didn’t have a clue of how to cook it.
I gave them a jar of the Habanero Mint Jelly the day I made it. That night we both had salmon cooked with the jelly and we both loved it.
Now for a bit of history... I grew up in Indiana--not exactly the seafood capitol of the US--and we never ate fish. So here I am, in Alaska. I just learned to fish for Red Salmon and now I had several pounds of fresh-caught Red (Sockeye) Salmon and I didn’t have a clue of how to cook it.
Another skill I just learned was jelly making and
canning. I’ve been making a bunch of
different (and weird) jellies and jams.
One day, shortly after I finished another jelly experiment and came up
with a GREAT Salmon dinner recipe.
This recipe is a combination of recipes from a variety
of sources. The first step is to make
your Habanero-Mint Jelly. Obviously,
this step can be done well ahead of time if you wish. This recipe comes from Better Homes and
Gardens: Habanero-Mint Jelly. This recipe makes a lot of jelly; probably
more than you want. I made a half batch
and still got 5 pint-jars and some extra for the fridge out of this. You don’t have to can the jelly--you can
refrigerate it, but that’s a lot of jelly to keep in the fridge. Besides, you’ll like this so much you’ll want
the extra jars for later.
---------------------------------
Makes: 144 servings
Serving size: 1 tablespoon
Yield: 9 half-pints
Prep 45 mins
Stand 30 mins
Process 5 mins
Ingredients
1
cup firmly packed fresh mint
leaves
1/2
cup water
3
cups chopped yellow sweet
peppers (4 medium)
1 1/2
cups cider vinegar
3
fresh habanero chile peppers,
seeded and finely chopped*
2
tablespoons finely chopped
shallot (1 medium)
7
cups sugar
3
tablespoons lemon juice
1/2
of a 6-ounce package (1 foil
pouch)liquid fruit pectin
Directions
1.
In a small saucepan bring mint leaves and the water to boiling. Remove
from heat. Cover and let stand for 30 minutes. Pour mint mixture through a
fine-mesh sieve into a 5- to 6-quart heavy pot, pressing mint with a spoon to
remove excess liquid. Discard mint.
2. In a food processor or blender combine sweet
peppers, 1/2 cup of the vinegar, the habanero peppers, and shallot. Cover and
process or blend until finely chopped. Add pepper mixture to mint liquid in
pot. Stir in the remaining 1 cup vinegar, sugar, and lemon juice. Bring mixture
to a full rolling boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in
pectin.
3.
Return to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Boil hard for 1
minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Quickly skim off foam with a metal
spoon.
4.
Ladle hot jelly into hot sterilized half-pint canning jars, leaving a
1/4-inch headspace. Wipe jar rims; adjust lids and screw bands.
5.
Process filled jars in a boiling-water canner for 5 minutes (start
timing when water returns to boiling). Remove jars from canner; cool on wire
racks. Makes 9 half-pints.
*Tip: Because chile peppers contain
volatile oils that can burn your skin and eyes, avoid direct contact with them
as much as possible. When working with chile peppers, wear plastic or rubber
gloves. If your bare hands do touch the peppers, wash your hands and nails well
with soap and warm water.
Note 1: This jelly isn’t very gelled; even refrigerated it is somewhat runny. This makes it easy to use as a basting sauce.
Nutrition Facts (Habanero-Mint
Jelly)
Servings Per Recipe 144, cal. (kcal)
40, Fat, total (g) 0, chol. (mg) 0, sat. fat (g) 0, carb. (g) 10, Monosaturated
fat (g) 0, Polyunsaturated fat (g) 0, Trans fatty acid (g) 0, fiber (g) 0,
sugar (g) 10, pro. (g) 0, vit. A (IU) 23, vit. C (mg) 9, Thiamin (mg) 0,
Riboflavin (mg) 0, Niacin (mg) 0, Pyridoxine (Vit. B6) (mg) 0, Folate (µg) 1,
Cobalamin (Vit. B12) (µg) 0, sodium (mg) 0, Potassium (mg) 15, calcium (mg) 1,
iron (mg) 0, Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet
---------------------------------
Step two is to start your
salmon grilling. This recipe is mine,
but I picked up some good pointers on plank grilling from the Cedar Grilling Company.
---------------------------------
Cedar Plank Grilled Salmon
with Habanero-Mint Jelly
Makes: 2 servings
Serving size: ½ lb of salmon
Prep 2+ hrs
Process 30 mins
Ingredients
1 cedar plank (these can be bought
from Home Depot among other places)
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 orange
1 lb salmon filet, skinned (I used
Alaska Red Salmon)
¼ - ½ cup Habanero-Mint Jelly
Directions
1.
Soak the cedar plank in warm water for at least 2 hours.
2.
Pre-heat your grill to medium heat.
3.
Dry the plank and oil the top of the plank with the vegetable oil.
4.
Slice the orange into even-width slices.
Lay slices on top of the prepared cedar plank.
5.
Lay salmon skin-side (the side that used to be skinned) down on the
oranges. Make sure salmon is entirely on
the plank and the oranges. Using a basting
brush, brush the salmon with Habanero-Mint Jelly. If necessary, warm the jelly in the
microwave.
6.
Place planked salmon on the grill and cover. Keep an eye on the grill. If your plank starts to burn (most likely
with a charcoal grill), put it out with a water spritzer.
7.
Do not turn salmon as it cooks.
The following times are just guidelines and will vary with the thickness
of your filet and the heat of your grill.
For salmon: Rare, medium and well-done temperatures are 120°, 125° and 130°F. Remember to err on the “rare” side of the
temperature scale as the salmon will continue to cook for a time after taken of
the grill.
8.
Baste the salmon with the Habanero-Mint Jelly just before removing it
from the grill.
9.
Serve with more Habanero-Mint Jelly on the side.
---------------------------------
Finally, I also planted a
garden for my first year of Alaska gardening.
I didn’t have absolute success, but my peas came out great. My recommended side dish takes advantage of
my newly harvested snow peas, but these are readily available just about
anywhere else. I found this recipe on
Cooking Light: Sautéed
Snow Peas and Peppers. I used a bit
less oil that the original recipe.
---------------------------------
Yield: Serves 2 (serving size: about
3/4 cup)
Hands-on: 4 Minutes
Total: 12 Minutes
Ingredients
½
teaspoon dark sesame oil, divided
1
¼ cup fresh snow peas, trimmed
½
cup thinly sliced red bell pepper
1/8
teaspoon salt
dash
freshly ground black pepper
Preparation
1. Heat a large skillet over
medium-high heat. Add 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add snow
peas and bell pepper to pan; sauté for 4 minutes or until the vegetables are
crisp-tender, stirring occasionally. Remove pan from heat. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper, and toss
well to combine.
Nutritional Information
Amount per serving
Calories: 46 Fat: 2.4g
Saturated fat: 0.4g Monounsaturated fat: 0.9g Polyunsaturated fat: 1g Protein:
1.4g Carbohydrate: 4.8g Fiber: 1.6g Cholesterol: 0.0mg Iron: 1mg Sodium: 150mg
Calcium: 19mg
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