Brown Sugar Baked Salmon

[lorita]

This is one from my mother's big box o' recipes, which means the original came from heaven-knows-where. Another successful product with my culinary guinea pigs (aka my D&D group). This is a marinade recipe, so time it accordingly. Very easy.


Step 1: The "Base" Sauce
I put "Base" in quotes because there is a lot of flexibility in this mixture. Mix together well:
-1/2 cup brown sugar
-4T melted butter
-3T soy sauce
-3T lemon juice
-2T white wine or water
Every one of these ingredients can be adjusted to taste and/or dietary restrictions. My preference is water instead of wine, more sugar, and less soy. Your tastes will vary. The only recommendation I make is that if you're going to scale the recipe, keep everything proportionate to the original amounts, whatever they may wind up being for you.

Step 2: The Fish
Put salmon fillets in a glass baking dish. The original recipe recommends 4-6 fillets at 1 ounce per person. How you come about this quantity will depend on how the purchase of fish works in your area. When Mom used to make it, she'd get two giant, skin-on fillets and cut them to match how many mouths she had to feed. The last time I made this, I used pre-cut, pre-packaged skinless fillets. Is there a difference in the finished product? I'll say this much - the fresher your fish, the better it will taste. It'll taste good either way, and the skin doesn't seem to make any kind of a difference, but the fresher the better.

Step 3: Everything Else
Pour your sauce mixture over the fish. Marinate for up to six hours - half an hour minimum. I like to flip the fish halfway through to make sure all sides are soaking up the marinade.
Cook uncovered for about 15 minutes at 400 degrees. As a safety precaution, I usually let it go for 10 minutes and then check on it, adjusting the rest of the cooking time accordingly.
Serve with rice and a vegetable - my preference is broccoli.