I like to cook, and have attempted in the last year some recipes of varying difficulty. I will share a few I think, starting with;
The smoked salmon chowder.
It's actually fairly simple. The salmon I used was caught by my stepfather last year, and smoked in my own smoker prior to making it into soup. We will be including as a side, a simple garlic bread. Nothing too fancy about the garlic bread though.
What you'll need.
a quarter cup of olive oil
half a salmon, smoked*
three or four green onions or leeks (whatever your preference)
A large potato
A clove or two of garlic
two stalks of celery
salt and pepper (amount to your preference
a can of tomato paste
Two cups of milk
Two cups chicken broth
Half a cup of heavy cream
Preparation.
Dice your potato into small cubes as well as chopping up your leeks/onions and celery, mince your garlic, and flake your salmon.
While you are doing that, heat up the oil in a medium to large pot for about a minute and toss in your garlic and leek/onion to sautee for a couple minutes, not too long though or the garlic will burn. After that, toss in the celery, potato, salt, and pepper to cook for another couple of minutes. Remember to keep the potato and celery moving by stirring. As I said, the garlic will burn. Stirring will even out the heat and keep anything from sticking or burning as quickly. Add your chicken broth and allow the whole thing to sit on the heat until the potato is nice and tender. 15 to 20 minutes or so should be enough. Add the milk and tomato paste, and then the salmon. Simmer it, but do not allow it to boil. Boiling will cause the milk to separate, and we don't want that. While that's simmering, add your heavy cream and stir it. The heavy cream will thicken the soup up a bit into a nice chowder. If it doesn't thicken it up enough for you, you can add a teaspoon of corn starch mixed with half a cup of oil. If you want, you can also add smoked clams.
For the garlic bread, you'll need a loaf of french bread, butter, garlic, garlic salt, and a blend of parmesan and mozzarella cheeses.
Slice the loaf horizontally across the middle and set it on a sheet of aluminum foil. Take the butter, garlic, and garlic salt and mix them in a small bowl then spread it evenly on the two halves of bread. sprinkle the cheese as thick as you want on one slice of the bread and then put the two together like a sandwich. Wrap the whole thing up in the foil an stick it in the oven for about 15 to 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Your best bet to have everything ready in time is to do the garlic bread while the chowder is simmering.
* = You can also use canned, but you won't get the smoke flavor in the soup. If you go with packaged smoked salmon, two packages (about 16 ounces) should be enough.
Anyways, share, and as I said, no politics.
