I’ve been a lover of salmon for years, decades actually, ever since that vacation in the late 80s to Seattle where I had a salmon dish in a restaurant that tasted like it was freshly caught that morning.

But I’ve been preparing it pretty much the same way for most of the time. Baking it in the oven at 350° F and then either just squirting it with lemon juice (if it was a good cut of salmon and very fresh) or adding a simple garlic and butter or olive oil sauce (if it wasn’t).

I’ve occasionally tried other methods but was never particularly satisfied with any of them.

So when I found a recipe for Glazed Salmon from America’s Test Kitchen, I was intrigued enough to try it.

The only problem was, like so many of their recipes, the glaze, or I should say the glazes because the were four variations, but each of the variations had at least one ingredient that is unlikely to be found in the average kitchen. Certainly not in my kitchen.

For example, there is the Pomegranate-Balsamic Glaze. You can probably guess that one of the ingredients is pomegranate juice. I mean, who keeps that in their kitchen?

So let’s go on to the next one, Asian Barbecue Glaze. That sports hoisin sauce, rice vinegar, toasted sesame oil, chili-garlic sauce, and fresh ginger. Among others. I do have some of those on hand, the toasted sesame oil and fresh ginger, but not the others.

Orange-Miso Glaze anyone? In addition to rice vinegar and the zest and juice of an orange (doable) it also asks for white miso.

Next!

Soy-Mustard Glaze. That calls for mirin and sherry vinegar and whole grain mustard. Sigh.

I mean, mirin? Really?

Oh, wait. I actually do keep mirin on hand. I use it to mix with soy sauce to whip up a quick dipping sauce. I almost forgot.

So that leaves whole grain mustard. I can always find a use for that, I keep several different mustards around anyway.

Sherry vinegar? The internet tells me that apple cider vinegar makes a good substitute, and I already keep that on hand.

So Soy-Mustard Glaze it is.

It was delicious!