Salmon with Bacon and Maple Glaze

EatingWell magazine published a recipe for a Spinach Salad with a warm Maple Dressing. I stumbled across this recipe for trying to come up with a new salmon recipe. My version is listed below, as I thought theirs needed a little work. The maple got me thinking and I decided to do a maple glaze on the salmon. Now what would I add to bring it all together? Obviously bacon, but I think bacon is the answer to a lot of things.

Salmon with Maple Glaze and Bacon
1 salmon steak for each person
1 slice of bacon for each salmon steak
1 tsp of maple syrup for each salmon steak

Spinach Salad with Maple Dressing
2 tbs chopped walnuts
2 oz chopped spinach per person
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 tbs cider vinegar
1/4 cup maple syrup
salt and pepper to taste

Salmon Instructions
Preheat grill to medium high.
While grill is heating up place bacon in microwave on paper towels and cover with a paper towel and cook for 1 minute. This will make bacon partially cooked but not crisp. Pat excess grease off bacon and set aside. When Salmon is almost cooked to desired doneness, drizzle syrup over the salmon and place bacon on top. Remove when salmon is cooked to desired doneness.

Spinach Salad
Put spinach in bowl, if frozen defrost and drain first.
Heat nuts in a dry skillet, over medium heat, until they are fragrant about 2 -3 minutes. Put nuts in bowl with spinach.
Add oil and shallot to pan and cook until soft, about 4 minutes. Add vinegar and syrup heat until boiling. Add the salt and pepper. Poor mixture over the spinach.

Put spinach mixture on plate and top with salmon steak.

Tantalizing Tower of Taste

This dish has sweet and heat and a tower of potato and meat. Chinese 5 spice, chipotle powder, maple syrup, pork and sweet potatoes all combined.

5 Spice Pork with Chipotle Sweet Potatoes

For the potatoes:
2 tsp canola oil
1 tsp chipotle powder
1 sweet potato, cut into coins about 1/8" thick Mine weighed about 3/4 lb

For Pork Tenderloin:
1 tsp canola oil
2 tsp Chinese 5 Spice powder
1 pork tenderloin (1 tenderloin from a package of 2) cut into 1/2" coins

For the Sauce:
1 tbs of Maple Syrup
1 tsp of chicken stock
5 spice powder or chipotle powder, depending on whether you want a spicy or sweet sauce Add the amount to your liking

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium bowl place potatoes, oil and chipotle powder toss until well coated. Then spread potatoes on a cookie sheet and place in oven, It should take about 45 minutes for them to get firm and brown on the edges. They will crisp up a little after they are removed from oven.

Place pork coins in bowl with oil and 5 Spice powder, toss until evenly coated. Place them in a saute pan and cook for about 3 minutes per side or until they reach reach the doneness you like.

While pork is cooking place maple syrup and broth in pan with chipotle or 5 Spice powder and simmer until sauce has reduced.

To assemble lay down a sweet potato chip then a pork coin and drizzle with sauce. Keep doing this until you reach your desired height.

I made brown rice and added chopped mushrooms and herbs to surround the base of the Tantalizing Tower of Taste.