Delicious Salmon Chowder

I love Sundays in the fall when I can just stay at home and putter in my kitchen all afternoon. Yesterday I made a delicious Salmon Chowder with some buttermilk biscuits, Marvelous Pear and White chocolate muffins, an Apple Crisp, and some Mocha granola bars.

The reason for the salmon chowder is I’ve been working on finding new and delicious ways of cooking salmon. My husband was super lucky to go on a fishing charter trip with my brother and father and they brought home tons of amazing salmon! These were a couple of the one’s the hubby brought back.

So far we’ve had BBQ salmon, and we had salmon steaks with a delicious rub from Cabela’s that my hubby picked up. Today was Salmon chowder. I adapted a recipe I found on Simply Recipes , well not really adapted more like tweaked. Anyways, here it is:

Delicious Salmon Chowder

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook time: 45 minutes  Yield: Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients

• 5 ounces bacon, chopped
• 2 cups cleaned, sliced leeks (or 1 cup dried leeks)
• 1 cup sliced celery
• 3 cups cubed potatoes 1 1/2 inch pieces or about 3 medium (yukon gold are the type suggested but I just used whatever I had in my garden and it was still delicious)
• 2 1/2 cups chicken stock
• 2 1/4 cups water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 sprig thyme (or approx 1/2 teaspoon dried)
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 to 1 1/4 pounds of trimmed, skinned, salmon fillet, cut into 1-inch cubes. (Or see my note* below about using salmon steak with skin on and bones in if that is what you have on hand like I did)
• 1/2 cup corn (optional, use when in season or frozen)
• 2 Tbsp flour (use rice flour if cooking gluten-free)
• A pinch of ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup (6 ounces) heavy cream
• 1/2 tsp lemon zest
• chopped chives for garnish

Directions

1. Place bacon in a thick-bottomed 5 to 6 quart pot or dutch oven. Heat on medium high heat. Cook until lightly browned and the fat is mostly rendered out of the bacon, about 5 minutes.
2. Remove all but about 1 Tbsp of the bacon fat. (Do not put bacon fat in your sink drain, it will clog the pipes.)
3. Add celery and fresh leeks to the bacon (if using dried leeks add them after you add the liquid) and cook on medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes.
4. Add diced potatoes, chicken stock, water, 1/2 teaspoon salt, bay leaves, and thyme (and dried leeks if using)to the pot. Increase heat to bring to a simmer. Then lower the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked through.
5. While the potatoes are cooking, prepare the salmon (see Note*). Place salmon in a bowl, sprinkle with flour and black pepper. Toss to coat. Melt 1 Tbsp butter in a non-stick skillet on medium high heat. Working in batches if necessary, lightly brown the salmon on one side, then turn and brown on other side (The salmon doesn’t have to be cooked through, just lightly browned.)
6. When potatoes are cooked through, use a slotted spoon to transfer the salmon to the pot with the potatoes, bacon, leeks, and stock. Stir in corn if using. Cook gently for 5 minutes then remove from heat. Stir in the cream and lemon zest. Add salt to taste.
7. Garnish with chives to serve.

*Note:  If you are using a chunk of salmon with the skin on and the bones still in; heat oven to 425°F (218 °C) and place salmon on a piece of parchment paper on a baking pan. Place pan in oven and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool. When salmon is cool, peel the skin off and then using your hands, gently break apart the chucks of salmon and pull out any bones. The salmon will be flakey and easy to break apart. When skin and all bones are removed continue on with next steps.

I hope you try this delicious recipe sometime, it is definitely going in our favorites.

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