Rachel has a grown-up friend who often invites her over for lunch. When this happens, they don't just get a 12-inch sandwich from Subway as I expected; rather, Catherine actually makes a delicious lunch, and they eat it. It sounds so civilized.

After one of these lunches, Rachel came home raving about a salmon chowder that she'd had, and insisted that we make it for dinner. She got the recipe from Catherine, and I gratefully reproduce my slightly modified version of it here.



It's a simple but delicious chowder: Sweat 1 large onion in about 2 tablespoons of butter or oil, and then sprinkle on 1 tablespoon of flour. Stir and cook to form a roux.

Once the roux has achieved blond-ness, you might decide to add a dash or two of Old Bay seasoning, and then pour in 4 cups of homemade lobster stock if you're lucky enough to have just made some. Otherwise, any other flavorful broth will do. Whisk, and bring to a boil, then add 4 large Yukon Gold potatoes, diced, and reduce heat. Simmer for about 20 minutes.

Grab your trusty potato masher and mash some, but not all of the potatoes: you want to thicken the soup, but still preserve some potato chunks. Then stir in 1 1/2 cups of frozen corn, 2/3 cup of milk, and chopped parsley and dill. Cook for 5 minutes, and then remove from heat.

Stir in 6 ounces of chopped smoked salmon, yes, from a can. We found some delicious "Australian-style" salmon from Whole Foods. (I don't know what makes it Australian-style, but I approve.) Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve with a bit of sour cream, if you like.

The soup was delicious: salty and meaty from the salmon, with the unmistakably comfortable feeling of a potato-y chowder. A+++ would eat again.