new year’s eve meal – Jellybeans in the City

Just like that: 2020 is no more and we’re off to welcome a brand new year!

Guess what: I embraced 2021 with a new recipe for baked salmon for the fam’s Media Noche feast.

This past Christmas Eve, as I’ve done for several past Christmas Eves, I whipped up my tried-and-tested Cheesy Baked Salmon for our Noche Buena feast. It’s certainly a family favorite and even my friends have been trying it out for their own holiday feasts.

However, I opted to do something different for the fam’s Media Noche feast. This time around, at Hubby’s suggestion, I decided to go a ease up a bit on the cheese but go heavy on the butter. And the result is awesome.

So here it is: check out my recipe for Baked Salmon in Lemon Butter Sauce.

Ingredients:

1 salmon fillet (600 grams or more)
1/3 cup unsalted butter
5 cloves of garlic, finely minced
4 tablespoons lemon juice
8 thin slices of lemon
1 teaspoon honey
Salt and pepper to taste
French beans and carrot strips, blanched and lightly stir-fried in butter

Procedure:

Thaw salmon and pat dry.

Rub half of the minced garlic over the fillets. Pour three-fourths of the lemon juice over the salmon, then set the fillet aside for ten minutes to allow the salmon to marinate.

Preheat the oven to 190 deg C (375 deg F).

Arrange the lemon slices at the bottom of an aluminum baking pan.

Remove the salmon from the marinade, scraping off excess garlic, and place the fillets skin-side down on a on top of the lemon slices. Set aside.

Place the butter in a microwave-safe bowl and place it in the microwave for one minute to melt the butter.

Whisk in the remaining one-fourth of the lemon juice, the honey and the remaining half of the minced garlic into the melted butter.

Season the fillets with salt (I used Himalayan sea salt from Goodness MNL for its health benefits but ordinary table salt will do) and freshly ground black pepper.

Spoon three-fourths of the butter mixture onto the salmon fillets and reserve the rest of the remaining mixture.

Cover the salmon with a sheet of aluminum foil then seal the fillets by crimping the ends together with the pan to produce an air-tight cover for the fillets.

Place the baking pan in the oven and allow the salmon to bake for 17 minutes.

Take out the baking sheet from the oven and remove the top cover. Spoon the remaining butter mixture over the salmon pieces then allow the salmon to broil for five to ten minutes until the salmon fillets turn golden.

Serve with the buttered French beans and carrot sticks.

I’m glad to note that this dish has my Hubby and kiddos’ seal of approval in terms of taste and texture. Hubby even prefers it to the Cheesy Baked Salmon.

My compromise is to go for the Cheesy Baked Salmon for Noche Buena as its richness will be well-suited for it being the central dish. For Media Noche, wherein it will be one of many dishes atop a traditionally overflowing table, the simpler buttery version will be more appropriate.