Grilled Salmon with a Mustard-Horseradish Sauce

Back in June, the cover of Food and Wine had this yummy looking grilled salmon, and ever since then, I've wanted to make it.  Harris Teeter had salmon on sale earlier this week so I picked up a pound fillet and decided to give it a whirl.  I've never done any glazes on the grill, and in the end, I did overcook it a bit (but you know me, if it isn't twitching, it's overcooked).  Rick stayed at home tonight so that he could pack for his weekend at his parents' house which left me, the salmon, the grill, and some Project Runway.  The recipe for the salmon is on the Food and Wine website. 

For the side, I decided to make a simple cucumber salad (which was one cucumber peeled and deseeded with my trusty melon baller; 1/4 of a sweet onion thinly, thinly, thinly sliced; dill; cider vinegar; salt; pepper; and a little sugar) to go with the salmon.  For something that I just threw together, it turned out really well! I love it when that happens.  

I did have one panic moment during my meal prep. I was getting everything together, and I realized that I didn't have any prepared horseradish!  The bottle that I thought that I had was a Rick's place.  Luckily, the new Harris Teeter is so close!  I was able to grab some (and a bottle of wine happened to jump in my hands on the way to the seafood counter where I found the horseradish) and be home before dark!

The final result was really good even though the glaze didn't turn out as well for me as it did for magazine cover, but it was still delicious.  I added a little dill to the salmon when I was adding the salt and pepper prior to grilling.  I definitely want to make the sandwich that was in the magazine for Rick and I, too!  I had a realization about this meal just now...I think that this is first thing that I've made without garlic in forever!

Here's what I did.

Grilled Salmon with a Mustard-Horseradish Sauce

Ingredients

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard 

1/4 cup prepared horseradish, drained 

2 tablespoons honey 

1 pound salmon fillet, cut into 3 pieces

Salt and fresh ground pepper

Dill (either dried or fresh)

Extra virgin olive oil

Directions

In bowl, mix mustard, horseradish, and honey together.  

Rub extra virgin olive oil on both sides of the salmon.  Season the top of the salmon with salt, pepper, and dill.  

Grill the salmon over moderate heat, skinned side down, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Turn and grill for 3 minutes longer, until the salmon is almost cooked through.  Flip salmon and spread some of the mustard sauce over the fish.  Turn and grill until glazed (about 30 seconds).  Remove from grill and serve with remaining mustard sauce on the side.

Enjoy!

Flank Steak with Cucumber-Pepperoncini Relish...yep, it's another Greek inspired grillin' night

Rick was away for most of the weekend at the Masters, and while I had toyed with making some sort of mushroom-centric meal, I opted to go out to dinner with a friend on Friday and then had Homecoming for the College of Nursing on Saturday.  Oh well.  For dinner this evening, I had tossed around a couple of ideas...some sort of casserole, but the weather is so nice that it would've been a shame not to spend part of it at the grill.  I went searching myrecipes.com for something new to try, and I came across this recipe for flank steak with cucumber-pepperoncini relish.  It was featured in Cooking Light magazine so it would be perfect for our goal of eating better!  I also liked it because it gave me an excuse to make my famous tzatziki sauce

to serve with grilled pitas that we brushed with olive oil and Italian Seasoning (from the grinder).  This time, I also added a little bit of the Garlic and Herb grinder that we used with the Brussels sprouts.  Instead of serving the cucumber relish on top of the steak, we ate it on the side.  And I gotta say, it made fabulous leftovers today!

Here's what we did...

Flank Steak with Cucumber-Pepperoncini Relish

Ingredients

• 1  (1-pound) flank steak, trimmed
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 1/2  teaspoon  black pepper
• Cooking spray
• 2  tablespoons pickled pepperoncini pepper pickling liquid
• 2  tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon  Dijon mustard
• 1  pickled pepperoncini pepper, chopped
• 2  tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 2  tablespoons crumbled feta cheese
• 1/2  English cucumber, quartered lengthwise and sliced (about 1 cup)

Directions

Sprinkle both sides of flank steak evenly with garlic, salt, and black pepper. Massage seasoning into steak.

Combine pepperoncini pickling liquid, olive oil, and mustard in a medium bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Add chopped pepperoncini pepper, parsley, cheese, and cucumber to oil mixture in bowl; toss well to combine. 

Grill steak 5 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Place steak on a cutting board; cover and let stand 5 minutes. Uncover; cut steak diagonally across grain into thin slices.

Serve steak with relish.

Enjoy!!!