Lingonberry Salmon

 We try to stick to a Scandinavian theme for Christmas Dinner each year.   Lingonberry Salmon sat next to Norwegian meatballs this year.  This is based off the Quick Cured Lingonberry Salmon on northwildkitchen.com but changed a bit since we don't have fresh lingonberry readily available here.  I used a lingonberry jam instead.  It's a bit more runny than it probably should be, but it still works in a pinch.  We also did ours on the grill using cedar planks instead of baking it.  (I doubled this recipe for our crowd, but here is the single version)

Lingonberry Salmon

2 lb. salmon (We use sockeye whenever we can!)

1 T. salt

1 T. sugar

1 c. fresh or frozen lingonberries (recipe says you can sub chopped cranberries, too).  I used 1/2 c. or so of lingonberry jam in it's place

1/4 c. honey

1/4 c. whole grain mustard (I used stone ground)

1/4 c. melted butter and cooled

Place the salmon on a sheet pan, skin side down.  Combine the salt and sugar and rub it on the salmon.  Cover with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge and let it sit for an hour or so. 

Take it out and rub off with a paper towel as much of the salt and sugar mixture as you can.

In a small bowl, combine the mustard, honey, lingonberries (or jam), and the melted and cooled butter. 

If you are grilling this, transfer the salmon to the cedar planks (be sure to presoak these so they don't burn).  Spread the mustard-jam mixture over the salmon.

Grill and enjoy.

If you are baking the salmon, bake the salmon in a baking dish (without the planks of course) at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

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T = tablespoon

c = cup

lb = pound

Oven Baked Bacon Wrapped Scallops

I think I found my new favorite way to do scallops!   And if you like bacon, well, you are in luck here.  Here is what I did.  And here is what I will do again.

Bacon Wrapped Scallops

1 lb. scallops, muscle removed, rinsed and dried

Bacon strips (1/2 the number of scallops you have)

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Garlic Powder

Paprika

Prebake your bacon strips so they start to cook but are still soft.  I did mine for about 8 minutes.  Cut each strip in half the long way. I do my bacon in the oven on 400 degrees on a wire rack on a foil lined sheet pan.

Wrap each scallop in a half cooked bacon strip and secure it with a toothpick.  Trim off the bacon if it is too long.

Put the wrapped scallops on a wire rack.  I used the same one I used for the bacon.  Brush each scallop with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika.  Flip the scallops over and repeat on the other side.

Bake the scallops for 15 minutes at 425 degrees.  Recommended internal temp is 115-125 degrees.  At 15 minutes, mine were mid 140's degrees and I prefer them a bit higher temp.  They were really, really nice.

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lb  = pound