West Coast Seafood Chowder

My fabulous friends have had a successful day fishing and lucky me, I am the grateful friend they are bestowing a few of their lovely Sockeye Salmon too as well as cleaned and filled. I think about all the ways I can cook up this wonderful fish and then it comes to me. I already have Shrimp at home and some fresh Dill. Seafood Chowder! I haven't made it in quite a while so I looked up recipes and asked my Polish girlfriend who is a fantastic cook and I came up with my own version based on what I had at hand. There are other versions with more types of Seafood but this is what I had. And I didn't measure....well not really. Here is what I used:

One Salmon fillet
Shrimp
Yellow Onions
Garlic
Dill
Thyme (used sparingly)
Celery
Carrots
Corn
Potatoes
2 Cans Whole Baby Clams
2 Cans Clam Juice
Vegetable Broth
Half and Half
Salt
Pepper
Paprika (1/2 tsp)
All-Purpose Flour
Oil

Drain the clams and set aside. Peel Shrimp and set aside. Cut Salmon into bit size pieces and set aside. Chop the vegetables into bite size pieces. You can go chunky with bigger pieces or smaller for a finer soup. Cut the potatoes into 1 inch by 1 inch cubes and keep in separate bowl from the rest. Toss veggies (not potatoes) with a couple of tablespoons of flour.

I made the whole Chowder in one pot.

Drizzle oil in the pot and heat up. Saute Onions and Garlic then add the floured veggies for a couple of minutes stirring continuously. Add paprika and stir for a few seconds then add the broth and Clam Juice right away. Paprika can burn easily and you don't want the chowder to be bitter. Add the Spices, Herbs, Veggies, Potatoes - everything except the Cream and Seafood. Let it simmer until potatoes are just starting to soften.

The consistency of the chowder is up to you. If you want it thinner then mix some flour into the cream then add to the soup. If you want it thicker you'll add more flour to the cream before adding to the soup. Sometimes I like it thicker and creamier but today I wanted it thinner and more like a soup. And the amount of cream is up to you as well. I added half of the cream only.

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I will go more creamy with my Soups and Stews and Chowders in the winter months. At the end add the seafood which will take only a minute to cook through and your done.

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Totally delicious. Enjoy.