Delicious Salmon Chowder

I had baked a 2 lb. salmon filet with the plan to turn it into salmon cakes but I caught a little head cold and wasn’t willing to put in the effort required to make the cakes.  So, I opted to turn it into salmon chowder, which we haven’t had in many years.  I looked at several online recipes and settled on one that sounded good and for which I had all of the ingredients.  The recipe comes from the “Salt and Lavender” blog but I made several changes beginning with doubling the ingredient amounts.  Since I like a hearty soup, I completely changed the cooking method by adding the liquid as I went along and ended up with two cups of chicken broth vs. six called for in the recipe. To see the original recipe, just click on the above link.

Salmon Chowder – Heavily adapted from Salt and Lavender

Ingredients:

8 strips bacon cut into small pieces

2 lbs. fresh salmon

1 medium onion chopped small (1 cup)

4 medium carrots chopped small (1 cup)

4 sticks celery chopped small (1 cup)

2 large clove garlic minced (1 tbsp)

4 tbsp. flour

2 cups chicken broth

2 cup clam juice

1 cup heavy/whipping cream

1 cup whole milk

4 large Russet potatoes peeled & diced

1 tsp. dried dill weed

Salt & pepper to taste (it took a lot of salt)

Instructions:

1. Prep the onion, celery, carrots, and potatoes.

2. Prep the bacon and add it to a large pot over medium-low heat. Cook until almost crispy.

3. Once the bacon is almost done, add the onion, carrots, and celery and sauté for 5 minutes, using the veggie liquid to deglaze the pan (I didn't remove the bacon and save some for topping).

4. Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.

5. Add in the flour and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring nearly constantly.

6. Stir in clam juice. Give it a good stir to ensure the flour has dissolved and the flour it all scraped up from the bottom of the pot.

7. Add in the cream, potatoes, dill, S&P and enough chicken broth to cover the potatoes (1 cup). 

8. Increase the heat to high and bring the soup to a boil. Once it's boiling, reduce the heat to a rapid simmer so it's gently boiling.

9. Cook, uncovered, until the potatoes are tender (about 15-20 minutes). Stir occasionally.

10. Use a fork to break the salmon into smaller pieces.

11. Add the salmon and more chicken broth (1 cup), if needed to get the amount of liquid desired, and cook until the salmon is warmed through.  Add more broth if you want it soupier.

12. Season the soup with salt & pepper as needed.

The Verdict:

We thought it was delicious and the heartiness was just the way I wanted it – it’s basically salmon flavored potato soup.  It was perfect for a dreary evening while watching the Super Bowl (I was pulling for the Niners).  My only change to the soup, rather than pre-cook it, will be to dice the raw salmon and add it to the soup when the potatoes were about half done to give the soup a little more salmon flavor.  I would definitely make it again and before we had finished the leftovers, Cindy was already asking when I planned to make it again.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

2/11/24 meal date