3-ingredient smoked salmon soup

People who know me appreciate that I relish in crafting recipes with the fewest possible ingredients. By using the best quality nutrient-dense ingredients you can find, you don't need to mess with them too much or make recipes more complicated than they need to. "Keeping it simple" / "less is more" are excellent guiding principles in the kitchen as well as in life. If I open a recipe book and there are more than 6 ingredients my eyes start to glaze over. With only 3 ingredients, this soup/chowder was a breeze to throw together. And because each ingredent is so independently flavoursome and nutrient-dense they come together in a rich tasting soup that passed the "Test" (the "Test" being whether my kids go back for a second helping).

Ingredients:

700ml fish stock (preferably home-made)
200g smoked wild salmon
6 tablespoons cream

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Directions:

Combine stock, salmon and cream in a saucepan and gently heat (but do not allow to boil) while mixing well with a hand held blender until very smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with chopped parsley and 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of wild salmon roe per bowl (if desired).

Serves 4. This makes a gorgeous entree especially in these warmer months or a simple weekday family dinner served with some steamed vegetables or a garden salad. 

Fish stock is dead-easy to make: fill your biggest pot with fish frames (heads included), filtered water, pepper, garlic, bay leaves, thyme and a splosh of apple cider vinegar. Bring to boil then simmer for 1 hour. Strain and add 1 teaspoon of unrefined salt per litre of strained stock. If you don't have the time, energy or inclination of making fish stock yourself then just buy it from me or some other reputable source using quality ingredients with frames from wild (not farmed) fish.

The other way I typically serve smoked salmon is to lay it in a platter with spoonfuls of home-made cream cheese (or store bough quark), chunks of avocado, and to dress it with lemon juice, extra virgin cold pressed olive oil, roughly chopped parsley, and season it with unrefined salt and pepper. Garnish with lemon wedges. A simple yet always impressive salad on any table.

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What's so bad about farmed salmon? 2 things- what they feed them and the conditions they are farmed in. They are touted as the "battery hens of the ocean". According to one website in addition to soy pellets (which are probably genetically modified and most definately toxic) the added ingredients you’ll get with a farmed fillet of salmon include dioxins, PCBs, fire retardants, pesticides (especially for sea lice), antibiotics, copper sulphate (to take care of algae on the nets), and canthaxanthin (a dye associated with retinal damage used to make grey farmed fish various shades of “wild” pink). That's somewhat sobering, don't you think?

To cloud the issue further, there is a big difference between “wild caught” and truly “wild”. A “Wild Caught” label may only be telling a half truth. Many to most “wild caught” salmon actually spend half their lives in hatcheries (farms) before being released. Sneaky. While these quasi-wild fish are a better nutritional deal than fully farmed salmon, they are said to still bear the burdens of early exposure to toxins (dioxin, PCBs, etc.) and a less impressive omega 3:6 ratio.

As far as I know Australia’s ONLY source of truly wild salmon is the Canadian sockeye salmon imported by David Cost-Chretien from The Canadian Way. It is second to none in terms of taste, texture and colour and has an unaparelled omega 3 to 6 ratio.

David's wild salmon can be purchased directly from him (he home delivers) by contacting him on  0421 445 538 or david@thecanadianway.com.au or via his website, or he stocks his salmon at various organic stores including Wholefoods House, the new Bondi Wholefoods and GRUB.

If you make my 3 ingredient smoked salmon soup let me know what you think. How do you serve smoked salmon?

Bondi Wholefoods- a new organic store now open

This morning I checked out Bondi Wholefoods on the corner of Hastings and Wairoa Ave in North Bondi. It's been opened a mere 2 weeks. I had a lovely chat with Suzanne, the owner, a glowing 35 year old who is pursuing her passion in "health and longevity" (alongside her property business). She's done a great job with the fit out (slick and simple in black and white), had the foresight to include a child-friendly courtyard where kids can play, read and draw while parents shop in peace (a much needed first in the Eastern suburbs), has a counter bench and indoor and outside tables for eat-in dining and has stocked her little store with reputable high quality brands including:

* Feather and Bone pastured meats (including Burrawong chicken) * Pasture Perfect bacon * Cleopatra bath milk and cream * Ovvio teas and spices * Canadian Way raw wild salmon

The produce (fruit and veg) is all certified organic but stocks were very low this morning as the delivery had not arrived. Her idea is to have a high turnover of produce to keep it fresh. The prices for the produce seemed very reasonable (eg potatoes for $1.50/kg!). I gather her philosophy is to keep the produce prices as low as possible and charge a little more for dairy which seemed at the high end (e.g. $9.95 for a bottle of Cleos. I pay $7.95 online at www.abundantorgnaics.com.au with a further discount on top if I spend over $100).

There is a lovely selection of imported cheeses. There were no 1kg sizes of the Alpine goats yogurt or the Meredith Sheeps milk yogurt but Suzanne tells me this is just a "supply issue." The larger sizes are far more economical. And of course there's all of the usual brands and  food items you would expect to find in organic stores- most of which I do not buy as they are too processed (certification means very little to me if the thing is still processed or toxic!), or I make them myself (eg activated nuts, chocolate, stock etc) or I buy in bulk at much cheaper prices (oils, vinegars, cheeses, spices, salmon etc).

The eat-in options are very grain-heavy (eg muesli, sandwiches, quiches) but there's a couple of salads and yogurt with berries.

The staff seemed friendly but apart from the owner I spared them from any tricky questions. Parking is often an issue on Wairoa street (but no more so than elsewhere around this neck of the woods- it's my one bug bear about the Eastern Suburbs!). Bondi Wholefoods has very long trading hours- open 7 days 7am-8pm.

I personally can't see myself being a frequent shopper at this store because its not geographically convenient for me - there's loads more organic stores that are more direct to where I live or drive to/from (eg Organic Paradise on Oxford Street, Bondi Health Emporium in South Bondi, Dr Earth in Oxford st mall, David Jones for pastured meat, online shopping etc). However if I lived close by I wouldn't hesitate to pop in especially for the produce or to have a coffee and read the paper.

So with Bondi Health Emporium in South Bondi, Earth Foods in central Bondi (on Gould Street) and Bondi Wholefoods in North Bondi, it seems that Australia's iconic beach suburb has got organics covered.

Have you been to Bondi Wholefoods yet? If so, what did you think??

Wholefood delights for your Xmas hampers

'Tis the season to be scratching your head wondering what to buy friends and loved ones for Xmas this year. If you're at a loss consider making your own hamper and including in it all or some of the following delectable nourishing wholefoods:

* organic activated nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans, cashews, brazils, peptitas, hazelnuts, mixed nuts, bronte buckinis. Available in 3 sizes). * raw cacao coconut balls ($15 for a packet of 6) * activated nut coconut balls ($15 for a packet of 6) * Toscana certified organic cold pressed lemon infused olive oil (discounted price of $20/500ml. These retail in the stores for $22-26) * Toscana certified organic cold pressed olive oil (discounted price of $30/1.5L. These retail in the stores for $45-55) * Toscana certified organic caramelised balsamic vinegar (discounted price of $20/500ml. These retail in the stores for $25-30)

Few people wouldn't appreciate real food as a gift. The balls and nuts make perfect appetizers, snacks or desserts when entertaining guests this summer. Toscana olive oil and vinegars are second to none in terms of quality and price. All these products also have a very long shelf life and don't need refrigeration.

To reserve a bottle of olive oil and/or vinegar let me know ASAP as I have only ordered in a limited quantity of 6 of each. To purchase, simply pop over to my home at a mutually convenient time to select what products you would like to include in your hamper. Then go buy a nice box or basket (if you want to) and it's all done!

Click here to view the prices of my activated nuts. Click here to find out what exactly are activated nuts.