3-ingredient smoked salmon soup

People who know me appreciate that I relish in crafting recipes with the fewest possible ingredients. By using the best quality nutrient-dense ingredients you can find, you don't need to mess with them too much or make recipes more complicated than they need to. "Keeping it simple" / "less is more" are excellent guiding principles in the kitchen as well as in life. If I open a recipe book and there are more than 6 ingredients my eyes start to glaze over. With only 3 ingredients, this soup/chowder was a breeze to throw together. And because each ingredent is so independently flavoursome and nutrient-dense they come together in a rich tasting soup that passed the "Test" (the "Test" being whether my kids go back for a second helping).

Ingredients:

700ml fish stock (preferably home-made)
200g smoked wild salmon
6 tablespoons cream

IMG_1874

Directions:

Combine stock, salmon and cream in a saucepan and gently heat (but do not allow to boil) while mixing well with a hand held blender until very smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with chopped parsley and 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of wild salmon roe per bowl (if desired).

Serves 4. This makes a gorgeous entree especially in these warmer months or a simple weekday family dinner served with some steamed vegetables or a garden salad. 

Fish stock is dead-easy to make: fill your biggest pot with fish frames (heads included), filtered water, pepper, garlic, bay leaves, thyme and a splosh of apple cider vinegar. Bring to boil then simmer for 1 hour. Strain and add 1 teaspoon of unrefined salt per litre of strained stock. If you don't have the time, energy or inclination of making fish stock yourself then just buy it from me or some other reputable source using quality ingredients with frames from wild (not farmed) fish.

The other way I typically serve smoked salmon is to lay it in a platter with spoonfuls of home-made cream cheese (or store bough quark), chunks of avocado, and to dress it with lemon juice, extra virgin cold pressed olive oil, roughly chopped parsley, and season it with unrefined salt and pepper. Garnish with lemon wedges. A simple yet always impressive salad on any table.

IMG_1030

What's so bad about farmed salmon? 2 things- what they feed them and the conditions they are farmed in. They are touted as the "battery hens of the ocean". According to one website in addition to soy pellets (which are probably genetically modified and most definately toxic) the added ingredients you’ll get with a farmed fillet of salmon include dioxins, PCBs, fire retardants, pesticides (especially for sea lice), antibiotics, copper sulphate (to take care of algae on the nets), and canthaxanthin (a dye associated with retinal damage used to make grey farmed fish various shades of “wild” pink). That's somewhat sobering, don't you think?

To cloud the issue further, there is a big difference between “wild caught” and truly “wild”. A “Wild Caught” label may only be telling a half truth. Many to most “wild caught” salmon actually spend half their lives in hatcheries (farms) before being released. Sneaky. While these quasi-wild fish are a better nutritional deal than fully farmed salmon, they are said to still bear the burdens of early exposure to toxins (dioxin, PCBs, etc.) and a less impressive omega 3:6 ratio.

As far as I know Australia’s ONLY source of truly wild salmon is the Canadian sockeye salmon imported by David Cost-Chretien from The Canadian Way. It is second to none in terms of taste, texture and colour and has an unaparelled omega 3 to 6 ratio.

David's wild salmon can be purchased directly from him (he home delivers) by contacting him on  0421 445 538 or david@thecanadianway.com.au or via his website, or he stocks his salmon at various organic stores including Wholefoods House, the new Bondi Wholefoods and GRUB.

If you make my 3 ingredient smoked salmon soup let me know what you think. How do you serve smoked salmon?

Jerusalem artichokes & broad beans in tomato sauce

Jerusalem artichokes and broad beans make their appearance just once a year fleetingly in Spring. I honestly don't know why Jerusalum artichokes - rather ugly looking vegetables - are called Jerusalum artichokes. They are neither from Jerusalum, nor are they artichokes. Go figure. But one of my fondest culinary memories growing up is my mum cooking them in lots of red wine and coriander seeds until they were so soft that they would just melt in your mouth - like small sweet potatoes. And broad beans cooked in tomato puree and vinegar I recall being equally delectible.

If you haven't cooked Jerusalem artichokes or broad beans before they might look a little daunting. Make the most of these delicious vegetables while they are in season with my super simple traditional wholefoods spin on these family recipes:

IMG_1753

Broad beans in tomato sauce

500g (approx) fresh broadbeans in their pods

1 onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, diced

4 tablespoons tomato puree or tomato passata

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon white wine

2 tablespoons butter

unrefined salt

cracked pepper

Directions: Peel the sides of the broad bean pods with a vegetable peeler to remove the tough stringy sides (this is critical otherwise you will have an unpalatable dish).  Leaving the beans inside their pods, cut into approximately 2-3 inch lengths. Steam until soft. To make the tomato sauce, sautee onions and garlic in butter in a large frying pan on low heat for approx 5 minutes or until soft and golden brown, stirring occasionally. Add wine, vinegar and tomato puree and continue to cook for another 3-4 minutes stirring occasionally. Add beans to tomato sauce and stir gently to combine. Season well with salt and pepper.

Jerusalum artichokes  

Jerusalum artichokes

red wine

dried coriander seeds

butter

unrefined salt

cracked pepper

Directions: Peel the Jerusalum artichokes with a vegetable peeler and steam until soft. Melt butter in a large frying pan on low heat. Add the Jerusalum artichokes, a good splosh of red wine and season liberally with coriander seeds and salt and pepper. Continue to cook uncovered for several minutes before serving.

I 've been dumbstruck by the kalaidescope of Spring time colours around the Eastern suburbs over the past couple of months- splashes of hot pink Bougainvillea, mauve jacarandas and fragrant jasmine all abloom. I wonder why such exquisite floral beauty didn't  strike me so poignantly  in previous years (was I in slumberland??). Anyway, I now feel awake and alive and enjoying Spring.... I hope you are too!

jacaranda

Mildly spiced beef cheek and sweet potato casserole

This week I bought beef cheeks for the first time. They are cheap ($21.99/kg) and I bought the Tova Platinum grass fed brand from David Jones Food Hall. I slow cooked them in a casserole for 24 hours and they were so incredibly melt-in-your-mouth tender. I share my simple recipe below. For those of you who have done my casserole cooking classes you will know that my casseroles follow an easy-to-remember 4 part formula:

1. Pastured meat - in this case 1 packet of Tova beef cheeks.

2. Liquid - 1 cup home made beef or chicken broth and 1:4 cup balsamic vinegar or red wine. If you don't have bone broth just use filtered water- it won't be as rich, nutritious and flavoursome but it will still be fine.

3. Herbs and spices - I used 1 tablespoon OVVIO Indian Herb & Spice blend bought form OVVIO -The Organic Lifestyle Store in Paddington 5 ways (or make your own using Cumin, Tumeric, Cardamon, Fennel, Fenugreek, Chilli, Cinnamon, Garlic granules), plus liberal amounts of sea salt and cracked pepper. Instead of the Indian herbs you could use garam masala which is similar. Or use Mediterranean inspired spices like oregano, basil, bay leaf and some tomato puree. If you don't have any spices don't let that stop you- just season with good ol' sea salt and pepper.

4. Vegetables- a couple of diced garlic cloves, 1 diced onion, 1 large sliced sweet potato or other root vegetables to your liking.

Add everything into an oven proof casserole dish or slow cooker. This will take you between 2-4 minutes (I guarantee it- I've timed myself many times!!). Cook on low heat (e.g. 80 degrees) for 8-24 hours. Ladle the juices over the meat in shallow soup bowls. Serve with some steamed buttered greens or a garden salad. Easy, delicious and nutritious! Great for these cold wintery evenings.