I recently went to Chef Michael Smith’s website. He is the one that Ahron (africanmeat) posted the bacon cheddar tart recipe/video. I found all kinds of wonderful cooking ideas. Today I made one of them.
You can’t make chowder without bacon. As I am wont to do, I doubled the amount of bacon.
While the bacon was cooking, I diced up some celery and onions. In the recipe it calls for a splash of water while you are rendering the fat from the bacon. I tried this. It seeks to work.
Here are a few more of the ingredients. Note the horseradish on the right. I only used 1 tablespoon instead of 2.
Chowder must have potatoes. They called for shredded potatoes. I don’t have a hand shredder anymore, so I opted to dice the potatoes to use in the recipe like I do for other chowders.
Did I forget to mention that this is a Smoked Salmon Chowder? Here is some of the homemade Cider Mill Brined salmon that I smoked a while back. It ended up being more hot smoked than cold smoked due to the ambient temperature outside. Perfect for this dish, however.
Finally, a bowl of goodness. My wife loves smoked lox and gravlax, but hot smoked salmon, not so much. She is not a big fish eater. I told her that I wasn’t sure if she would even like this chowder. She took a couple of tastes from my bowl and proclaimed that it was pretty good. I can live with that.
There are a couple of things I might do differently next time. I would use a Pino Grigio instead of a Chardonnay for the wine. I would also add more bacon.
Here is the recipe.
Smoked Salmon Chowder
Recipe By: Chef Michael Smith
Serving Size: 4
Ingredients:
4 slices bacon, chopped
splash of water
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 cup any white wine
2 cups half & half cream (18%) (Canned milk/3.25%)
2 cups clam juice (fish broth)
1 large baking potato (unpeeled), coarsely grated
2 bay leaves
1 lb. hot or cold smoked salmon
2 tablespoons horseradish
A sprinkle of salt and lots of freshly ground pepper
Directions:
1. Toss the chopped bacon into a thick-bottomed stockpot with a splash of water. By adding water you allow the bacon to gradually release its fat and brown evenly without burning. Stir over medium-high heat until the bacon crisps nicely. Add a bit more water to loosen all those yummy brown bits in the pan and then add the onion and celery. Sauté them for a few minutes until they soften and smell great. No need to brown them.
2. Add the white wine, cream, clam juice, grated potato and bay leaf. Bring the mixture to a slow simmer, stirring frequently. Turn the heat down a bit and continue simmering until the potato softens, releasing its starch and thickening the chowder, about 20 minutes or so.
3. Very gently stir in the horseradish, smoked salmon and fresh dill and stir just until everything is heated through. Taste the chowder and season it well with salt and pepper. Break out the bowls, ladle in your creation and share!
Give it a try!!
Art
