Salmon bisque

 

This recipe comes from my mother's old "Joy of Cooking" book, which had lost its cover and been wrapped with book tape ever since I can remember. It's well splattered, so it seems like it must have seen significant use, but I'd never even cracked it open as a child, gravitating instead to the red checkerboard BH&G or Betty Crocker for some reason. Maybe I was put off by the lack of pictures? The inline ingredient recipe method? At any rate, I thought it was time to try something out of it, and this seemed suitably old school.

Salmon bisque
Adapted from “Joy of Cooking” by Irma S. Rombauer

Ingredients
2 7.5-ounce cans salmon, including oil
1 14.5-ounce can chopped tomatoes
½ cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
2 cups water
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
3 cups milk
1½ teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon paprika

Method
In large heavy pot, combine salmon, tomatoes, onion, parsley and 2 cups water. Bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in another large heavy pot, melt butter. Whisk in flour and cook for a few minutes. Slowly pour in milk, whisking constantly. Add salt and paprika and continue to cook and stir over medium low heat until mixture thickens. Add salmon mixture to bisque, keeping mixture below a boil and serve. Makes about 6 servings.

Ratings: Pretty good flavorwise, depending on how you feel about canned salmon. Dave has fond memories of salmon patties, so he really liked it. I wasn't a salmon patty fan myself, and while the mixture cooks it smells like canned pet food, but it's a decent soup. Definitely pantry friendly -- you don't even need broth on hand. And it just somehow smacks of something made by 1950s moms for ladies luncheons while wearing starched aprons.