Monday, September 26, 2005

Gwin's Lodge Smoked Alaska Salmon Chowder

There is a famous little restraunt in Cooper Landing, Alaska. First off Cooper Landing is one of the most gorgeous places in Alaska. Its way up in the mountains, its very small, and it has the Kenai River flowing right through it. The Kenai River is like no other river that I know of because it glows like tropical waters (no picture doing it justice). I've heard that its because its all glacier fed but I'm not entirely convinced that's what makes it glow. Anyway we have to go through Cooper Landing to get to Homer, so everytime we make a trip down I beg Marty to take me to Gwin's Lodge for their Salmon Chowder. YUM, its better than any soup I've had. This time I found they give the recipe out (awesome gift from above) so I thought I would share it... This is their recipe, word for word as they had it in the menu I brought home (with some comentary questions of my own). Their website also has this and several other recipe's.

1 & 1/2 lbs. smoked salmon (sockeye preferred), flaked
10 strips raw bacon
2 large onions, minced
4 stalks celery, minced
3 carrots, finely chopped
5 green onions, finely diced
6 cups fish broth (water mixed with fish base) what's fish base??
8 red potatoes, chopped
3/4 bunch fresh parsley, chopped (wondering what a bunch is??)
1 cup butter
1/4 lemon juice (a forth of what?)
1 & 1/2 Tbsp. dry dill
1 & 1/2 cups corn kernels
1 cup flour
1/3 Tbsp. black pepper
5 cups milk
3/4 cup white wine

Preparation: Chop bacon and saute in a large pot with onions, celery, carrots, green onions, and parsley for about 4-5 minutes over medium heat. Slowly add in 1/2 cup water and cover for 1 minute. Add spices and fish broth and simmer until carrots are tender. Add the chopped red potatoes and simmer until they too are tender.

In a separate sauce pan, mix the butter and flour over medium heat and stir to make a roux, or paste. Before adding this mixture to the pot, add a few large spoonfuls of the hot broth to the roux for thinning and to bring it to the proper temperature. Add this thinned roux to the pot with vegetables and broth. Stir thoroughly and let simmer for 5 minutes. Add milk, stir and bring to a simmer, allowing it to thicken slightly. Add white wine, lemon juice, corn, and flaked Smoked Alaskan Sockeye Salmon. Continue simmering, stirring frequently, until the disired thickness is obtained. A little water may be added if the chowder becomes to thick.

There you have it! Try it and you will like it.
Servings: 8 large servings

9 comments:

Shana said...

they sell fish base at most grocery stores that carry ethnic foods....if you cant find it boil the salmon carcas...bones and head for about an hour....strain the yuckies out and add more water to adjust the flavor. a bunch of parsley is the whole handful of fresh parsley....usually five to six "branches". and I guess we can assume that 1/4 of lemon juice is NOT referring to a 5 gallon drum....guess you add lemon to flavor......Love to cook...but this reciepe sounds like it will really add a new scent to your home...

Anonymous said...

They sell parsley in bunches at the grocery store. It's about a handfull, as Shana says. And the 1/4 lemon I would think means 1/4 of a whole lemon's juice.

MrsM said...

Wow, thanks for the tips girls. This recipe sounds like a lot of trouble but I'll make it atlease once. Its that good. If I have any questions I'll know who to call!

FishTaxi said...

My guess is the 1/4 lemon juice is a fourth of a cup.

Fish stock/base surprisingly does not smell like fish.

And you could probably replace the fish base with chicken base and have the same effect in this recipe.

FishTaxi said...

Also, you are so right about the Kenai River. That green color is awesome and I've never seen any other river like it either.

In the ADN's Alaskana arhives is a story on Gwin's Lodge original owners.

MrsM said...

That's a relief to hear about the fish base and and even better suggestion with the chicken base. I think I would rather use a chicken base - thanks for the tip.

prudhoeman said...

MMMM! Gwin's, I wish I was there right now.

LeslieAK said...

We just left Gwin's. After a season closed, it reopened about a month ago, under new ownership. They still have the chowder but it has a different name (something like Trapper's Creek). :0)

Did anybody else catch the 1/3 Tbsp black pepper? Wouldn't that be a teaspoon? :0)

We stop at Gwin's every time we go by. Husband has to have the chowder. He's made it a few times at home (the above recipe out of the now quite dog-eared menu).

MrsM said...

Leslie, we moved out of state last year and your comment has me longing for a quick trip up for a bowl of soup. :D They just don't have restaurants down here in the Idaho/Washington area like they do back home. We haven't found anything that compares. It's good to hear Gwin's reopened. I hope the new owners are as great at it as the old ones were.

With the pepper, I never have been a big fan of pepper so I pretty much ignored that part of the recipe. Not sure how much they intended but your probably right, lol.