Having defrosted a nice chunk of salmon, I thought I would grill it and serve it with some kind of salsa or something, but when I asked my DH if that sounded good, he said no, it didn’t (we ate a lot of plain grilled salmon on our recent trip to the Pacific Northwest). So I had to figure out something else to do with it. This is what I concocted.
As a blog writer, I always think it’s important to tell you where a recipe comes from. I’m a reluctant innovator when it comes to cooking. Yes, I do veer off a recipe’s design sometimes, especially if I don’t have an ingredient or two. But more often than not, the first time I make something I make it according to the recipe. I don’t just open the refrigerator (or freezer) door and grab this and that and make it up as I go along.
So I went to that website I’ve told you about before, Eat Your Books, and did a search (amongst my own cookbook titles I’ve input there) for salmon. About the 3rd or 4th entry was a salmon soup. It sounded interesting. From an English cookbook, The New Covent Garden Book of Soups. (The last time we were in London – 10 years ago probably – I bought it at Harrod’s.) Then I went hunting for the cookbook on my cookbook shelves. And couldn’t find it. I dashed upstairs where I have another stack of cookbooks that I don’t use very often, and the most recent additions that came from our 2nd home we sold last spring. Most of the cookbooks that lived there had to find a home here. Nope, wasn’t there, either. Maybe I left that cookbook out there – I did leave a few for the new owners – wasn’t that generous of me :-\. I thought I left just a few that I didn’t like particularly.
What I did have was the exact title for the recipe – so I did a web search for the recipe. Nope, not there either. What to do? The only thing I had to go on was the list of ingredients. I jotted them down and began to work on my own version of this soup since I had no quantities at all. I improvised a lot – I had onion, and I also added a shallot. I added celery because I think fish type soups always benefit from the flavor in celery. I added thyme as a flavoring as well, since I often like thyme in fish soups and chowders. I think canned tomatoes were listed, but I didn’t want a big 14 oz. can, so I added a can of salsa verde instead. I have some of Penzey’s seafood concentrate, so I used that too. The recipe called for milk, but somehow milk didn’t fit into my idea of a fish and tomato based salmon soup, so I eliminated that. A relish wasn’t even part of it, but I knew the soup contained “tomatoes” and “basil.” It could have been just a couple of small chunked-up tomatoes added into the soup liquid. The basil could have been dried. My mind conjured up a little tiny pile of fresh heirloom cherry tomatoes and some slivered basil carefully placed on top of the salmon cubes. There! A soup was created.
It wasn’t fancy. It didn’t take but about 20-30 minutes to make. The salmon was cut into big 1” cubes and I ever-so gently simmered them the last 5 minutes. I didn’t want the salmon to fall apart – I still wanted to see those big chunks. Everything worked just fine, and the flavor was really good. Not a normal kind of soup, for sure. If you think salmon and soup, likely you’d think chowder first. We did see salmon chowder on more than one menu when we were on our trip. Having used the canned salsa as part of the soup, it actually gave it a lot of zip. If you don’t like chile heat, use canned tomatoes instead.
What’s GOOD: how easy it was to make. Very tasty, filling, satisfying and simple. Just right for a weeknight dinner with some bread and butter. Using canned salsa made the soup pretty spicy, so use your discretion if you don’t like heat. If you like, toast a thick piece of white bread (a country loaf type or sourdough) and put it in the bottom of the bowl, then ladle the soup on top and garnish. I actually added some quartered brussels sprouts to this recipe just to give some added veggies. Most folks don’t like them, so I left those out of what I printed below. Zucchini would be a good substitute.
What’s NOT: nothing, really. I’d make it again.
* Exported from MasterCook *
Salmon Soup with Tomato Basil Relish
Recipe By: My own concoction
Serving Size: 4
Note:If desired, toast a thick slice of country bread of sourdough and place it in the bottom of the bowl, ladle soup on top and garnish.
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 yellow onion — chopped
2 stalks celery — finely minced
1 whole shallot — finely minced
1 clove garlic — minced
1/4 cup dry vermouth
1 whole bay leaf
3 1/2 cups fish stock — or water + chicken broth concentrate
8 ounces salsa — including juices (your choice on the degree of heat)
3 ounces tomato paste
Salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon dried thyme — crushed between your palms
8 ounces salmon fillet — cut into 1″ cubes
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
GARNISH:
1/4 cup tomatoes — finely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh basil — sliced
2 tablespoons Italian parsley — minced
1. In a large pot heat the olive oil, then add the onion. Saute for 3-5 minutes until the onion is translucent.
2. Add the celery, shallot and garlic and continue cooking for 5-7 minutes until all the ingredients are softened.
3. Add the vermouth and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and allow to simmer until the wine has evaporated by half.
4. Add the stock, salsa, tomato paste, thyme and bring to al simmer. Taste for seasonings. [Mine didn’t need anything but pepper.]
5. GARNISH: Combine in a small bowl the chopped tomatoes, parsley and basil. Set aside.
5. Add the salmon chunks to the soup and bring to a very, very low simmer. Place lid on the pan and continue cooking for just 3-5 minutes, until the fish is cooked through and no longer than that.
6. Add the lemon juice, stir it in, then scoop about 1 1/2 cups of the mixture into wide serving bowls and garnish with the tomato/basil mixture. Makes moderate servings, but not he-man quantity.
Per Serving: 283 Calories; 14g Fat (52.6% calories from fat); 14g Protein; 15g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 43mg Cholesterol; 533mg Sodium.
Toffeeapple
said on October 7th, 2013:
You get salsa verde in a can?! Phew, never seen it here.
Soup looks very good, I adore Salmon but have never thought of making a soup with it…
Other than in a chowder, I hadn’t either, but it was surprisingly good. And yes, because we have a large Mexican population here in California, we have a whole section in every grocery store of the most common staples, with the salsa verde being one of them. . . carolyn t