when the craving hits

This past weekend Keith and I attended his nephew’s bar mitzvah. The night before Keith’s parents were gracious enough to host a dinner at their house celebrating the bar mitzvah boy and welcoming any out-of-town guests!

The whole event was catered. Now I am going to be honest in that I wasn’t expecting too much. Not because catered food is bad but because when you are cooking for 50+ people in a small home kitchen I feel like the margin for error is much greater than under other circumstances. But hey, I’m not really that picky so I assumed whatever was served would be fine.

We had two protein options: chicken, salmon or both. The salmon looked better on the eyes so I went with that. It was amazing!! So good that four days later I can’t stop thinking about it! The lesson here: sometimes you should definitely make choices based on looks. Sometimes.

Anyway, upon my return from the bar mitzvah all I could think about was recreating that salmon. I even kind of asked the caterer how he made it. All he said was it was a soy-glazed salmon. I thought at that moment…I could do that!

Of course Keith was wondering why I couldn’t have fallen in love with the chocolate cake or lemon bars. Oops.

So tonight I gave it my first attempt:

Bar Mitzvah Salmon

2 salmon fillets

3 Tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce

2 Tbsp. brown sugar

1 Tbsp. rice vinegar

Combine everything in a ziploc bag and shake to coat. Let sit in the refrigerator to marinate for 30 minutes.

Turn oven onto 500 degrees (or Broil). Place fish on baking dish (toss remaining marinade) and roast for 12 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

The verdict?

Chocolate cake and lemon bars, what? I may enter the catering business.