Salmon and Cheese Soup - Zupa Serowa Z Lososiem

I am trying out another Polish recipe from Beata Zatorska's book Sugared Oranges.  I have really enjoyed reading her book on Poland, and soaking up the beautiful photos and stories of her childhood there. The recipes are usually hearty ones, taking into account the freezing cold winter weather. When hubby and I did the backpacking thing years ago, we didn't get to Poland, but we did meet up with some Polish holidaymakers in Belgrade.  We were accosted at the train station by a taciturn Serbian (this was before Yugoslavia split up into the various republics), offering beds at a cheap rate. We were herded off with a couple of other backpackers to the remote nether regions of suburban Belgrade, there to share rooms and beds of various sizes.  We were forbidden to sleep in the double bed, and had to sleep in a single bed while the lone female backpacker was given the double bed!

The landlord also had rooms in his house for rent, plus the undercroft we were sleeping in, plus an old caravan in the front yard.  A stream of very large Poles of varying sexes and ages filed past our room into a small back room and also into the caravan.  Surly landlord dragged us off to one of his mate's backyards for gristly stew (I am pretty sure this was a haphazard and probably illegal restaurant), served at ratty old plastic tables late at night.  A red goulash-like stew was ladled into our bowls, and rough wine was poured into our glasses for a princely sum of a few dinar.  There were lots of filled tables so clearly the neighbours all enjoyed this 'gastronomic speakeasy'.

This soup is rich and creamy, so I can see why the Poles may have been large if they were eating this often!:)  It has sour cream, and regular cream and cheese so it really fills the cockles of your heart on a cold winter's night.

ingredients:

25g. butter
1 stick of celery, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or grated
1 leek, chopped
1 L of chicken stock
450g. of red salmon (from a tin says Beata) or use hot-smoked salmon if you have robbed a bank lately and can afford it.  I used 150g. of hot-smoked salmon and 300g. of tinned red salmon. (I only had to rob a tiny bank :=)).
1 tsp rosemary, chopped finely
3 tsp sour cream
120mls thickened cream
100g. cheddar cheese, grated
2 tsp dill (fresh if you can get it, otherwise the paste in the tube works well)
black pepper

Method:

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan
Throw your finely chopped celery, garlic and leek into the pan
Stir the veggie mix around in the butter and saute for 6-8 minutes till softened
Pour in the stock
Add the salmon and rosemary and bring to the boil
Take the pan off the heat and stir in both creams and the cheese
Cast in the dill and throw on the pepper
Simmer gently for a few minutes
Serve with bread or blinis!

ingredients 

adding the chopped veggies to the butter    

grating the cheese while the veggies soften    

veggies sauteed  

adding the stock    

and the salmon  

snipping up the rosemary from the garden   

pouring in the cream and sour cream       

throwing in the grated cheese and dill         

black pepper goes in   

here it is - creamy and fishy and rather tasty   

We managed to escape from the scary Serbian landlord, and found ourselves another place to stay with a crazy landlady who came into the toilet one morning (when I was sitting on it!) to ask me if I thought Elvis was still alive.  She assured me that she and I had the same body parts so it didn't matter if she came in to talk to me while I was in flagrante so to speak.  Well, you had to either laugh or cry.  I laughed!

This is my fishy doodle!  Mr P. gave me Doodling for Foodies for my recent birthday so I am doodling for all I am worth:)