I had my first chowder in San Francisco, it was one of the things you eat as a tourist, and it was so so. I know you can get good clam chowders, but the one I had on Fisherman's Warf, was not one of them.

Salmon is my go-to fish, and making it to a chowder seemed to be a great idea, the first day the temperature was dropping below the 80's.

This Chowder is pretty straight forward, a one pot soup, but is packed with great flavors.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

3 medium leeks
2 stalks celery
1 tablespoon butter
6 medium potatoes (Yukon Gold)
3 ears corn kernels
1 pound (450 g) salmon filet, skin and bones removed, cut into 2-inch (5 cm) cubes
3 thin slices smoked salmon, chopped
1 cup (2½ dl) cream, optional, leave out to get a healthier soup
½ cup (1¼ dl) white wine
4 cups (1 liter) water
2 Knorr fish stock cubes
1 bay leave
1½ teaspoons white pepper, freshly ground
1 lemon, zest and juice
fresh dill for garnish

Directions:

Thinly slice the leeks. Peel potatoes and cut them into large dices.

Melt the butter in a thick bottomed pan over medium heat. Sauté the leeks and celery for about 8-10 minutes, until soft, stirring occasionally. Add the wine to prevent browning.

Add potatoes, white pepper, bay leave, water, and/or stock. Bring the soup to a boil, and reduce the heat, and let the soup simmer for about 10-14 minutes until the potatoes is almost tender. Discard the bay leave.

Blend about ⅔ of the soup including (⅔) potatoes and leeks until smooth*. This makes the soup nice and creamy. Mix the blended soup with the unblended part, with the cream, lemon zest and the corn kernels. Bring the soup to a simmer and add both types of salmon, and let it simmer for about 3-5 minutes until the fish is cooked. The big chunks will separate somewhat, but thats perfectly fine.

Season the soup with salt, pepper and lemon juice.

Garnish with a few spring of fresh dill.

Enjoy!

*Be careful when blending hot liquids, it can make the lid pop off, and you may risk getting serious burns on you skin. You can remove the small cap on you blender lid and cover the lid with a clean kitchen towel. You need to hold on to the lid and towel. This will let the steam from the hot soup escape and avoid the lid from popping off. You can also get blenders like the Vitamix, where you can blend hot liquids, without any hassle.

The Danish version:

Lakse- og majschowder

4-6 portioner

Ingredienser:

3 medium porrer
2 stilke bladselleri
1 spsk smør
6 medium kartofler (ikke nogle der er melede)
3 majkolber, kun kernerne
450 g laks uden skin og ben, skåret i 5x5 cm tern
3 skiver røget laks
2½ dl fløde, kan udelades hvis du vil have en sundere suppe
1¼ dl hvidvin
1 liter vand
2 terninger knorr fiske boullion
1 laurbærblad
1½ tsk hvid peber, friskkværnet
1 citron, saft og skal
frisk dild til pynt

Fremgangsmåde:

Skyl og skær porrerne tyndt. Skræl kartoflerne og skær dem i ca 2x2 cm tern.

Smelt smørret i en tykbundet gryde, og sauter porre og selleri i omkring 8-10 minutter, uden at brune dem. Tilsæt vinen efter de første par minutter, for at undgå bruningen.

Kom kartofler, hvid peber, laurbærblad, vand og boullionterningen i, og lad suppen komme til kogepunktet. Kog suppen i 10-14 minutter indtil kartoflerne er næsten møre. Fjern laurbærbladet.

Blend ca. ⅔ af suppen incl. kartofler og porre*. Det gør suppen bliver dejlig cremet. Bland den blendede suppe med resterne af suppen og kartoflerne. Tilsæt fløde, revet citronskal og majsen, og kog suppen op. Tilsæt begge typer laks til suppen. Lad suppen simre 3-5 minutter, indtil fisken er færdig. Laksestykkerne vil gå lidt i stykker, men det er helt fint.

Smag suppen til med salt, peber og citronsaft.

Kom lidt dild oven på suppen, når den serveres.

Velbekomme!

*Pas på med at blende den varme suppe, da det kan give skoldninger, hvis låget hopper af. Man kan evt. tage det lille låg af blenderen og dække hullet til med et viskestykke, men der blendes.