• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Reluctant Gourmet

  • Planning
  • Recipes
  • Ingredients
  • Techniques
  • Tools
  • Shop
  • Tips
  • Careers
  • Contact
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • Planning
  • Recipes
  • Ingredients
  • Techniques
  • Tools
  • Shop
  • Tips
  • Schools
  • Contact
    • Facebook
    • Google+
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
  • ×

    Pomegranate Glazed Salmon Recipe

    November 14, 2015 by G. Stephen Jones 4 Comments

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    Pomegranate Glazed Salmon Recipe

    Zahav Style Salmon

    This recipe for pomegranate glazed salmon is perfect for our family because we eat a lot of salmon in our house. We usually marinate it, then grill or roast it whole but in this recipe we cut it up into chunks, apply a pomegranate glace and stick it on skewers to cook on the grill.

    This recipe is adapted from one we found in our new cookbook Zahav - A World of Israeli Cooking by Michael Solomonov and Steven Cook.

    My wife and I met Chef Solomonov at the Chef for Silver Springs Martin Luther School fund raiser last week. We have also dined at his restaurant Zahav in Philadelphia a few years ago so it was great to meet him and get a copy of his new cookbook.

    Michael won the James Beard Foundation award for Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic in 2011.

    According to the notes with the recipe, this salmon dish was the very first fish dish Michael put on his menu at Zahav. You will notice in his extremely informative cookbook, Chef Michael likes to skewer meats and fish to cook over coals or on the grill.  We love to grill all year round so this recipe is a perfect fit for us.

    Prepping the Salmon

    cured salmon kebabs

    In order to firm up the salmon so it doesn’t fall apart when cut up into chunks and stuck on skewers, it’s necessary to give it a quick cure with salt and some other ingredients for about 4 hours.

    The high fat content of salmon prevents if from drying out on the grill but be careful not to overcook the fish or it will be dry.

    It looks like Chef Michael cooks his pomegranate glazed salmon over hot coals without a grill. I prepared this dish on our Weber gas grill and made the mistake of not oiling the grill rack before adding the fish and ended up with some stick-age.

    I lost some of the incredibly flavorful seared skin to the grill but  did manage to peel some off the grill and it was delicious. Don’t make my mistake and prep your grill before you add the fish.

    Chef Michael cooks the salmon directly over hot coals which would prevent the skin from sticking to the the grill but not everyone has a charcoal grill at home.

    Then you have to devise something to hold the skewers over the fire at just the right height. I opted to use my grill but would be open to charcoal another time.

    Pomegranate Molasses

    You may be able to find some in your local supermarket or gourmet store but we couldn’t so we made our own with pomegranate juice, sugar and lemon juice. Easy to make at home but does take time. You can find my recipe for pomegranate molasses here.

    I did a quick search at Amazon and found over 8 brands of pomegranate molasses priced between $6 - $14 per bottle. If you plan ahead and don’t want to make your own, it’s readily available online.

    Print Recipe

    Pomegranate Glazed Salmon Recipe

    Adapted from Zahav – A World of Israeli Cooking by Michael Solomonov and Steven Cook
    Prep Time4 hrs
    Cook Time8 mins
    Course: Main Course
    Cuisine: American
    Servings: 4 people

    Ingredients

    • 1 clove garlic peeled and minced
    • 1 tablespoon orange zest finely grated
    • 1½ teaspoons kosher salt
    • pinch ground Aleppo pepper we found some at Wegmans
    • 1½ pounds fresh salmon fillet skin on
    • oil vegetable or canola for skewers
    • ¼ cup pomegranate molasses
    US Customary - Metric

    Instructions

    • Combine the minced garlic, orange zest, salt and Aleppo pepper in a small cup.
    • Spread this mixture on both sides of the salmon and wrap in parchment paper or the paper they were wrapped in when you purchased them.
    • Place in the refrigerator for 4 hours.
      The salt will lightly cure the fish so it stays together when cutting and placing on skewers.
    • After 4 hours, start your grill or coal fire and remove the salmon from the refrigerator.
    • Cut the salmon into 1-inch pieces and thread onto wooden skewers that have been brushed with vegetable or canola oil.
    • When your grill is hot, be sure to carefully coat it with some oil and place the salmon chunks skin side down on to the grates.
      Important to start with the skin side down. While the salmon is cooking, brush the other side of the salmon with the pomegranate molasses.
    • Once the skin is nice and crispy, carefully flip the skewers to cook the other side of the salmon pieces.
      Brush the skin side with some more pomegranate molasses and continue cooking until done, about 2 minutes more.
      Be careful to not overcook the salmon or it will dry out. Remember, the fish will continue to cook some while you are platting the other ingredient and getting ready to serve. You want to have your timing down so everything is ready to go once the salmon is done cooking.

    Notes

    We served the salmon kebabs with seared eggplant slices on top of lentils along side a dish of Israeli couscous, also from the Zahav cookbook but you can serve the salmon with any of your favorite rice dishes and vegetables.
    I found this simple way to prepare and serve salmon to be incredible delicious. The fish was most and had tons of flavor. Can’t wait to try some more dishes from this cookbook.

    Adult Beverages

    We prepared this pomegranate glazed salmon with friends from Utah. Isaac is a brewer for Uinta Breweries and is teaching me a ton about different styles of beer and how they are made.

    I'm hoping to get Isaac to write some fun articles about beer. There is a lot more to it than I ever imagined.

    With dinner, we served his Uinta Brewery's Hop Nosh IPA along with a Westmalle Trappast Ale and an Allagash Confluence.

    All different. All extremely good.

     

    « Pomegranate Molasses Recipe
    The Official Somm Movie Trailer »

    I'm a work-at-home dad who enjoys cooking, learning everything I can about the culinary world and sharing it with you. To learn more about me... Read More…

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Susan

      April 25, 2020 at 2:35 pm

      I don’t mean to be rude but how is the recipe adapted. It’s the exact recipe including the the exact measurements of ingredients.

      Reply
      • G. Stephen Jones

        April 26, 2020 at 9:33 am

        Hi Susan, great question. You are right the recipe is using the same ingredients as in Chef Solomonov's cookbook although many times I'll suggest substitutions or describe ingredients new cooks might not be familiar with. More importantly, I write the procedure on preparing the dish in my own words trying to make it easier for my readers to understand. When I first learned to cook from cookbooks and magazines, I had difficulty understanding some of the techniques described by professional chefs and cookbook writers so I tried to make the procedure a little easier to understand and try to look also at the why something was being done rather then just doing it. I think it is important for a home cook to understand why's so when they are creating their own recipes, they have the basics and understand why they are doing something rather than just do it. If you spend any time on my site, you'll notice I'm constantly asking my readers to substitute ingredients based on what they have on hand or what their personal preferences are. For this recipe, you can substitute the fish, try different glazes besides pomegranate and of course change you side dishes.

        Reply
    2. Susan

      April 25, 2020 at 2:58 pm

      Hi, just realized the last comment may have come across strong. I apologize if it does. I have a small blog and I wanted to know how a post/recipe can be adapted from a cookbook. You have a wonderful blog with an amazing range of recipes. Have a good day!

      Reply
      • G. Stephen Jones

        April 26, 2020 at 9:33 am

        I hope my explanation in your previous comment helps.

        Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    Search My Site

    Who Is The Reluctant Gourmet?

    I'm a work-at-home dad who enjoys cooking, learning everything I can about the culinary world and sharing it with you. To learn more about me... Read More…

    How Not to Cook Book

    Cooking Mistakes and How to Fix Them

    Categories

    Reluctant Gourmet on Instagram

    Footer

    About the Reluctant Gourmet

    I'm a work-at-home dad who enjoys cooking, learning everything I can about the culinary world and sharing it with you. To learn more about me... Read More…

    • Facebook
    • Google+
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter

    Featured Favorites

    Why Is My Halibut So Dry

    Bucatini all'Amatriciana Recipe

    Bucatini all'Amatriciana Recipe

    Pasta with Spinach Garlic and Guanciale Sauce Recipe

    Pasta with Spinach Garlic and Guanciale Sauce Recipe

    Fun Stuff

    • Cartoons
    • Events
    • Opinion
    • Press Releases

    Important Links

    • Advertising Disclosure
    • Terms of Use
    • Copyright Info
    • Privacy Policy
    • Home
    • About The Reluctant Gourmet
    • Contact Me
    • Advertising

    Copyright © 2022 · The Reluctant Gourmet