Slow Cooker Salmon Chowder #soupswappers

I gave Terry a choice today.  Should I make a Salmon Chowder or a Thai Crab and Corn Chowder?  I was leaning toward the crab.  He was leaning toward the salmon.  I leaned toward the slow cooker.  Salmon Chowder was the choice for Saturday Soup Swappers.

Today's chowder doesn't have a heavy cream base.  It is predominately clam juice with just a bit of cream and a dab of butter.  It was really perfect and I must admit that I was trepidatious. I am really used to making chowders of the creamy variety!  This isn't a brothy soup and only partially submerging the salmon allows it to poach in the herby broth.  Yummy!

Slow Cooker Salmon Chowder

adapted from the Food Network Kitchen

Yield:  4 servings

3 cups bottled clam juice

1 pound potato medley (red, yellow and purple), diced

2 carrots, thinly sliced

2 stalks celery, thinly sliced

1/2 yellow onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, crushed

12 sprigs dill

12 sprigs parsley

8 sprigs thyme

2 bay leaves

1 wide strip of lemon zest

1 pound fillet, skin removed, cut into four pieces

Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 Tbsp butter

Garnish

Chopped fresh chives

Chopped dill

In a large measuring cup, heat the clam juice until very hot.

Scatter the potatoes, celery, carrots, onion and garlic in a 6-quart slow cooker.  Tie the dill, parsley, thyme, lemon strip together with twine.  Lay the herb bundle on top of the vegetables in the slow cooker.  Add the bay leaves.  Pour in the hot clam juice.  Cook on high for 3 1/2 hours.

Season the salmon with salt and pepper.  Stir the heavy cream into the vegetable mixture.  Lay the salmon pieces on top, partially submerging them.   Cover and cook an additional 30-40 minutes.

Discard the herb bundle, remove the bay leaves.  Stir in the butter.  Season the chowder with additional salt and pepper, to taste.

Ladle the broth and vegetables into a soup bowl and top with a piece of salmon.  Garnish the chowder with chopped chives and a sprinkle of dill and serve.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Chowder is the theme for this month's Saturday Soup Swappers.  The Saturday Soup Swappers is a group of bloggers brought together by Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm. The group gets together on the third Saturday of the month to share soups or stews based on a theme selected by one of the members. If you are interested in joining in on the fun, follow the link above for more information. All are welcome!  This Saturday is hosted by the chef who began the group, Wendy!  Thank you for all of your work!

I mentioned earlier I was trepidatious about making a chowder like this but I did get encouragement from Terry...to quote, "Everything you make is delicious, unless it's not...but that only happens every five of six years."  Ha!  This was not one of those years!

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