Salmon with Orange-Fennel Sauce (9/02)

[KValley]

Orange and Fennel: Two flavors I never would have thought to put together, but I'm certainly glad Cooking Light did! The result was a slightly-sweet, bright sauce with a touch of the pungent fennel and rosemary (I know "bright" isn't a taste, but it's the word that came to mind!).

Orange is such a terrific flavor with salmon- it really complements the rich, deep flavor. One of my favorite salmon recipes is CL's Grilled Salmon with Ginger-Orange Mustard Glaze. This latest recipe won't take top spot, but it's definitely a repeater: super-easy, little fuss and mess, great flavor.

I also made the Roasted Butternut Squash with Herbes de Provence. THere is another thread devoted to this recipe, so suffice it so say that I adored this and will be making it again and again! Rounding things off was steamed broccoli and cantaloupe slices.

A lovely meal :D

[kima]

Julie-the Mustard Glaze Salmon is one of my all time favorute CL recipes-in fact we had it a couple of nights ago.
Confession time-I have never had fennel. I hear it has a licorice taste and that has always turned me off. But we have similiar tastes so maybe I should give it a try.
The first recipe I "tagged" in the Sept. issue was the Roasted Butternut Squash recipe! I just need to get in the mood for fall foods (or at least it has to cool down in my kitchen!). Thanks again-I always wonder why Gourmet (or CL) has nabbed you to write reviews for them!:)

[KValley]

Originally posted by kima
Julie-the Mustard Glaze Salmon is one of my all time favorute CL recipes-in fact we had it a couple of nights ago.
Confession time-I have never had fennel. I hear it has a licorice taste and that has always turned me off. But we have similiar tastes so maybe I should give it a try.


Fennel definitely has a distinctive taste- really green and yes, licorice-y. To me, it's not particularly strong in this recipe and the rosemary gives you something else to think about, but if you are worried try using half- just to get a sense of the fennel to see if you like it. The orange really comes through here- much more so than in the Mustard-Glaze salmon- I used fresh-squeezed oranges and I think that made a big difference.

Let me know what you think!! :) (I'm thinkin' I might have the rest of the Roasted Butternut Squash for breakfast!! :D)

[Chris415]

I too really enjoyed this. So simple, and the combination of the three main ingredients was so interesting! You could definitely taste all three. I too used a fresh orange, so it was very colorful and fresh.

Chris

[Peggy]

Made this salmon recipe for dinner on Friday night and we loved it! Who would have thought that orange, fennel and rosemary would work so well together to compliment the salmon?! Not my absolute favorite CL salmon recipe, but definately one worth repeating.

Peggy

P.S. I had to pass on the butternut squash recipe... still working on overcoming my aversion!!:o

[Ralph]

Made this for dinner tonight & thought it was just OK. The sauce/marinade wasn't exactly the strongest, but I can't explain why. I followed the recipe so as not to marinate more than 20 minutes, but I think another 20-30 minutes wouldn't have been too detrimental. The only change I made was to cook it on the grill rather than under the broiler (too nice not to cook outside).

It IS a simple recipe, though.

[Heidi]

I too was underwhelmed by this recipe. I agree with you on the sauce, Ralph--I thought it would be stronger, and it just wasn't. It was indeed simple, but I didn't think it was interesting enough to bother making again. I also made the rice pilaf suggested and thought it was boring. The meal wasn't bad, but there are just better recipes out there to spend my time and ingredients on.

[amcleod]

I made this last night and the DH and I really liked it. I don't think there was enough sauce, so next time I'd double it. We had it with the Curried Couscous from July 2001 (sans chickpeas).