Nigella's Mirin Glazed Salmon

We got home from vacation yesterday with a few extra holiday lbs. Unsure of what the culprit could have been; guacamole every day? margaritas during the day? vino and dessert every night? Or maybe the pain au chocolat I had with my breakfast in Mexico everyday...Was I not in Paris?

Anyway, after visiting the newest and cutest addition to the Colla family, I scooted over to the new Gourmet Garage for some ingredients for a home cooked meal. Got in a cab home 40 blocks= $27.00 and 30 minutes...go home tourists.

Good news is this healthy recipe took 8 minutes all in. The salmon was perfectly pink in the middle and the heat formed a gorgeous, sweet outer crust. I bought Nigella Express @ the 2008 NYC Food and Wine Festival "Nigella Talks". She was the buxom babe you see on TV...

I admit I have way too many unused cookbooks. My resolution for 2010 is to use them more to find quick & light creations like this one!

Mirin Glazed Salmon

Nigella Express, serves 4

"This must be the fastest possible way to create a culinary sensation. You do scarcely a thing — just dip some salmon filets in a dark glossy potion, most of which you get out of jars — and what you make tastes as if you had been dedicating half your life to achieving the perfect combination of sweet, savory, tender, and crisp." Mirin and Rice vinegar are in the Asian aisle of all grocery stores.

1/4 cup mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine)

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup soy sauce

4 4-oz pieces of salmon, cut from the thick part of the fillet so that they are narrow but tall rather than wide and flat

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1–2 scallions, halved and shredded into fine strips

1. Mix the mirin, sugar, and soy in a shallow dish that will hold all 4 pieces of salmon, and marinate the salmon in it for 3 minutes on the first side and 2 minutes on the second. Meanwhile, heat a large skillet on the stove.

2. Cook the salmon in the hot, dry pan for 2 minutes and then turn it over, add the marinade, and cook for another 2 minutes.

3. Remove the salmon to whatever plate you're serving it on, and add the rice vinegar to the hot pan.

4. Pour the dark, sweet, salty glaze over the salmon and top with the scallion strips. Serve with rice or noodles as you wish, and consider putting some sushi ginger on the table, too.