Salmon with Balsamic Glaze

I deviated from my usual soy-brown sugar glaze because I actually looked up the recipe for once only to find that it was never soy sauce at all but balsamic vinegar. Interestingly, this was the very last recipe in my epicurious recipe box when it default sorted by when they were added. I can only assume that this must have been my introduction to epicurious and the early days of experimentation living alone in San Antonio. So as a farewell tribute (to the recipe), I used the epicurious/bon apetit official version of the sauce:

Balsamic Glaze
1/2 c balsamic
1/2 c dry white wine (used sav. blanc)
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp brown sugar

Combine, reduce to 1/3 C. About 20 min.

Roasted salmon on a foil lined shallow baking dish at 400 for 12 min. Brushed on glaze and cranked it to 450 for the last 5 min. It was slightly overdone so I'd say no more than 13-14 min total and the crank-it-up step was pretty useless so just maintain 400.

Sadly, the original glaze was not as interesting or complex as my soy-brown sugar glaze (thus the farewell part of the tribute). The soy adds alot of depth and umami (ha! I guess the kikoman commercials are right). So here's the typical recipe for the winning sauce that can go on anything from greens to rice to chicken nuggets (yes, it's been done. See recipe for "E's special sauce" which is a minor simplification.)

Soy- Brown sugar Glaze
1/2 C soy sauce
1/2 C brown sugar
Juice of half a lemon
Optional:
grated ginger
minced garlic
honey (to sweeten or alter consistency)

Mix all ingredients in a small sauce pan. Simmer 10 min. Turn off heat once desired flavors are achieved because it will thicken as it cools.

In an uninteresting side note, we also had mustard greens with bacon and lemony couscous. The smokey southern style sauteed greens were a bit strange with the tangy balsamic salmon. I think the bacon didn't much belong.

For the couscous, I had run out of chicken broth and made it with water and threw in the spent lemon rinds to see if they'd zest it up. The couscous tasted alot like the water it was simmered in. Next time I'll rememeber that it is merely a vehicle for flavorings and season accordingly.