Salmon Chowder

There is nothing like a warm bowl of soup for dinner on a cool fall evening. This one is so wonderfully creamy and tasty that I know you will love adding it to your meals this fall.

I am starting with a salmon fillet but if you want to use a couple of cans of salmon feel free to do so, just skip the first part of the recipe. It will be just as good and a bit quicker too.

Salmon Chowder

(poached salmon)

½ cup water

¼ cup dry white wine

1 carrot, sliced

½ onion, sliced

1 sprig parsley

salt and pepper to taste

½ pound salmon fillet (cut to fit pan)

In a medium size skillet combine the water, wine, and veggies bring to a simmer and add the salmon fillet pieces. Cook at a low simmer until fish is cooked through, about 5 minutes. Remove fish from pan and allow to cool. Strain liquid and reserve for chowder.

(chowder)

salmon and its cooking liquid (or a large can of salmon)

4 slices bacon, chopped

½ onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

reserved salmon cooking liquid

1 cup water

1 cup chicken broth

2 cups finely diced potato

2 cups half and half

Cook bacon until crisp and remove from pan. Sweat the onion and garlic in the bacon drippings until softened. Add the salmon cooking liquid, water, chicken broth and potatoes bring to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are cooked through and very tender.

Meanwhile flake cooked salmon (I like to use my finger for this to be extra sure I don't miss any bones)

When the potatoes are cooked add the half and half and the cooked salmon.

Heat through

Taste and adjust the seasonings.

Brown Sugar Glazed Salmon on the Grill

This is a really quick little dress up for salmon that I think you will really enjoy. It has a hint of sweetness offset by a bit of sour and hint of heat. How can it get any better than that.

The last time I made this we used the amounts for the sauce that I am giving you here and for most people they would probably be perfect. Next time my son wants me to double the Sriracha because he felt it was not spicy enough. So if you like spicy you might want to increase the hot sauce a bit when you make it. I thought it was wonderful and liked the fact that none of the flavors (spicy, sour, sweet) was in the forefront, they played well together and were very balanced.

If you are not familiar with Sriracha sauce I highly recommend you add it to your list of staple ingredients to keep on hand. You will find it with the Asian foods in most grocery stores. It is easy to identify by the rooster on the label. It originates in Thai cooking and is just wonderful in so many dishes. It adds not only a bit of heat but also a garlicky slightly sweet almost smokey flavor to anything you add it to. I use it to season so many things.

If you are braver than I am you can cook this right on the grill rack, I cooked ours on a piece of well oiled foil. I didn't want to risk loosing any of the fish to the grill. I have had bad luck in the past trying to deal with delicate fish on the grill racks. For me the aluminum foil underneath just is a bit of insurance that I will get to eat the fish and not watch it fall through the rack to the charcoal below. You still get the smokiness that we are looking for on the grill so it is up to you. I think I really should go get a fish basket for the grill but I never remember that when I am in the store, I remember it when I am facing the grill with a chunk of fish. The only real downside to cooking on the foil was we lost the wonderful salmon skin to the foil, it stuck and was not to be removed. With a fish basket I am sure the skin would have been left intact on the fillet.

Brown Sugar Glazed Salmon on the Grill

1 (1 lb) salmon fillet (skin on)

oil

1 Tablespoon brown sugar

2 teaspoons vinegar

1 teaspoon honey

1 teaspoon prepared mustard (any variety)

¼ teaspoon Sriracha Sauce (or to taste)

Fresh chopped chives

Look over your salmon and remove any remaining bones (they always seem to miss a few) and use the oil to coat the skin.

Lay skin side down on well oiled aluminum foil or in a fish basket.

Combine brown sugar, vinegar, honey, mustard and Sriracha sauce in a small bowl. Brush the salmon with the sauce.

Grill skin side down, over medium coals 10 to 15 minutes or until the salmon flesh flakes easily and is opaque.

Sprinkle with chopped chives just before serving.

Lemon Chili Salmon

Since I live a bit out of town and it is not always convenient to get to the grocery store I like to keep a good variety of stuff on hand that is easy and quick for dinner. Since I really love fish and seafood I like to keep a lot of those items on hand.  For connivance sake I like the frozen products that individually vacuum packed and then frozen. The fish is frozen fresh and since it remains frozen until I thaw it out it stays that way. I was looking through  the freezer at one of my local stores and I noticed a package of salmon fillets, I hadn't  tried these before so I threw them into my cart. I removed them from the freezer to thaw out in my fridge today, then started to think about what direction I wanted to take with this meal. I checked out what was on hand and based on those items and our tastes I decided this meal will take a Southwest trend. I started the rice cooker with some brown rice along with some chopped green onion, cumin, chili powder, chicken bouillon powder and a little fresh ground pepper along with the required amount of water. We love brown rice and it is a wonderful blank canvass to add seasonings so it will go with your meal. I will be doing so actual recipes for the rice cooker in the next week or so.  I decided to cook the salmon on my grill pan on the stove top. Then I combined some spices with some fresh lemon juice to brush on the salmon. I also cut some lemon halves to grill alongside the fish. I made sure the bottom side of the salmon was well oiled so it wouldn't stick to the grill. When the grill pan was thoroughly heated I brushed the lemon juice/spice mixture over the top side of the salmon. I carefully placed the salmon on the heated grill oiled side down and tucked the lemon halves next to them and cooked them until the were done to our liking. With a nice vegetable to round out the meal we had a very nice, easy and satisfying meal.

Lemon Chili Salmon
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
juice of 1 lemon
2 lemons, cut in half

Prepare your grill to cook the fish.
Oil the bottoms of the fish fillets (skin side) and the cut edges of the cut lemons.
Combine the spices with the lemon juice and brush over the tops of the salmon fillets and allow to stand for about 10 minutes.
Place the salmon and the lemons cut sides down on the gull. Watch the lemons, they cook quickly remove them when they get good grill marks on the cut sides. Cook the salmon for about 15 to 18 minutes depending on how you like your salmon cooked. Turning these over is optional. I did this time because I did these in the house on the stove top grill, if I was outside where I could cover the grill I wouldn't have turned them.