Salmon with Old Bay Mustard Cream Sauce

August 29, 2020 by Nicole Collins

Has anyone else been buying themselves quarantine presents?

A.K.A...has anyone else been excessively online shopping while trapped inside the house? No? Just me?

I don't believe that. But, I won't make you admit anything that you're not ready to own up to yet. You can keep living a lie a little bit longer.

Well, my name is Nicole; and I've done way too much online shopping these past few months. My quarantine gifts to my self have ranged anywhere from new serving bowls, to a resin beach cheeseboard, to a wood fire outdoor pizza oven. I've REALLY rewarded myself for doing my part and staying indoors during this pandemic. Yeah, that's why.

In reality, I'm starting to get to the point where I'm finally getting bored of being in the house. I love working from home, and I love spending all day with the doggies, don't get me wrong. But, I've reached my maximum of tv and social media scrolling.

The bestie was telling me that her mom has become so bored during quarantine that she's started to read the Spanish dictionary to re-teach herself Spanish. When we reach the point that reading a dictionary is the most exciting thing in our lives, I think it's time for this pandemic to finally hit the road. But, I guess reading the Spanish dictionary is better than spending all of her money on buying things she doesn't need online (like some of us).

One of my most recent online orders/gifts to myself is a Ninja Foodi Grill. I'm so excited to cook all the salmon and shrimp in it all of the time when it arrives. But in the meantime, we're going to do it the old fashioned way. And that brings us to today's recipe! Today, we're making Salmon with Old Bay Mustard Cream Sauce!

Let's talk salmon. Oftentimes, you can buy salmon in one large filet or already portioned out in roughly 6 oz portions. I usually prefer to buy the big baby and cut it down myself. It usually tends to be a bit cheaper. But, it doesn't matter which way you go. However, I would recommend using fresh salmon for this. Prepackaged frozen salmon is usually cut into small awkward portions, and we want to the good stuff for this recipe since the salmon is the star of the show.

To cook our salmon, we're going to heat some olive oil in a non stick skillet, and add our salmon straight in. We let it pan sear for about 5 minutes per side until it's crisp and golden on the outside and perfect smooth and creamy on the inside. The cooking time will vary based on the size of your salmon piece, but you can usually gauge the right time to flip when you see the color of the fish change by watching the sides. After the salmon is cooked, we're going to transfer it out of the pan to rest on a plate, wipe down the skillet, and get working on our creamy sauce.

The sauce starts with a little butter, garlic, and beer. The beer is totally optional, but I like the little something extra that it adds to this sauce. After the beer reduces down, we add some cream, some grainy mustard, and some Old Bay seasoning. Let it bubble together and thicken, add the salmon back to the pan, and spoon that delicious mustard gravy right over the top of the fish.

Now, you guys know how I feel about lemon in savory dishes. I do not like lemon flavored savory dishes; BUT when used modestly, a little squeeze of lemon to finish the dish is the perfect way to cut through the richness and fattiness of the salmon and cream. That little squeeze of citrus at the end takes this salmon from yum to YUM.

Once the salmon has been drizzled in that savory, tangy, creamy sauce; add your side dishes, and get ready to devour! I chose to balance out the rich fish with some fresh roasted veggies. And, it was definitely the right move. Though, there's always room on the plate for some carbs!

Ok, everyone! What's the first thing I should cook in my new Ninja Foodi Grill? More salmon? Who am I kidding? I always want salmon. I hope you guys enjoy this one as much as I do. And, let's eat!

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Salmon with Old Bay Mustard Cream Sauce

Serves: 2 Print

Ingredients:

For the Salmon:

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 12 oz salmon, cut into 2 filets

• salt and pepper, to taste

For the Old Bay Mustard Cream Sauce:

• 1 tbsp unsalted butter

• 4 cloves garlic, minced

• 2 tbsp beer (I used Guinness Blonde)

• ½ cup heavy cream

• 1 tbsp stone ground mustard

• ¾ tsp Old Bay seasoning

• salt, to taste

• Half a lemon, to finish

Directions:

1. Prepare the Salmon: Heat olive oil in a medium sized non stick skillet over medium high heat. Pat salmon filets dry with a paper towel, and season both sides of the fish with a pinch of salt and pepper. Place the salmon in the pan, top side down, and cook for 4-6 mins until the salmon is opaque at least ½ way up the sides of the fish. Flip the fish, and cook on the other side for 4-6 mins until the internal temperature reaches 145 degrees. Remove salmon from the pan, and wipe down the skillet.

2. Make the Mustard Cream Sauce: Place skillet back on the stove, and reduce the heat to medium. Melt butter in the skillet. Add garlic, and saute for 30 seconds- 1 min until fragrant. Add the beer, and cook until the majority of the beer has evaporated, stirring occassionally, about 4-5 mins. Add heavy cream, mustard, Old Bay, and a tiny pinch of salt. Whisk to combine, and let simmer for 2-3 mins until sauce has thickened.

3. Finish the Salmon: Once the sauce has thickened, add salmon back to the skillet, and spoon sauce over the top of the salmon. Remove from heat, and finish with a squeeze of lemon juice over the fish. Serve!

Recipe notes:

*Cook time on the fish will vary based on the thickness of your fish. Watching the side of the fish to check the for the change in color is a great trick to know when to flip.

*Use your favorite beer here. You could use anything from a blonde, to an ale, to an IPA, to a stout for this sauce. This sauce also works perfectly fine without beer if you'd prefer not to use any.

*Old Bay is pretty salty, so go really light on the salt when you're seasoning your sauce. Make sure to taste along the way. You can always add seasoning, but you can't take it out.

*I like to use stone ground mustard, because I like the little pops from the seeds. You could also substitute dijon mustard.

*This recipe is easily doubled.