Potato Leek Soup with Roasted Sockeye Salmon

We don't know about you, but for us, long weekends and cool weather call for warm and inviting comfort food. So we hope this velvety smooth potato leek soup recipe that our friend and Chef Cory Walby of Saturday Night Test Kitchen created in partnership with Go Wild BC Salmon, will warm your hearts and your bellies. This recipe calls for wild sockeye salmon, but any of the wild BC salmon species we carry at Skipper Otto will work just fine!

Ingredients

Salmon:

• 1 - 4oz portion of wild Skipper Otto salmon per person (sockeye was used in photo)
• 1 Tbsp grapeseed oil (or substitute any other oil preference)
• Salt and pepper - to taste

Potato Leek Soup:

• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 cup (or 3 small) leeks - trimmed of the dark green, and finely chopped
• 1/3 cup onion (or 1 small) - finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic - finely chopped
• 2 small Russet potato - peeled and cult into 1/8ths
• 4 cups chicken stock (or substitute other stock preference)
• 1 Bay leaf
• 1/2 cup Half & Half Cream - warmed to lukewarm temperature

Garnish:

• Chili oil
• Extra cream
• Green Onions
• Sourdough Croutons

Directions

1. Start by adding butter to a deep pot, and bring to a medium heat. Once the butter is melted, add the leeks, onion and garlic. Sweat this off for roughly 7-10 minutes. You don't want colour on the vegetables, so stir often.
2. Add the chicken stock, bay leaf and potatoes to the pot and bring to a hard simmer. Allow to roll boil until the potatoes are cooked through and fall apart. Remove the bay leaf when the potatoes are cooked and place all of the ingredients in the pot, into a blender.
3. Blend on high for 30-40 seconds or until the soup is smooth and velvety. Add salt and pepper to taste and pour all of the soup back into a clean pot. Add your warmed cream to the pot and stir in. Taste and season again. Bring to a low heat and allow the soup to come together
5. While the soup is kept warm, it's time to prepare the salmon. and add oil, salt and pepper to it. For oven preparation, heat to 400F and cook for 10 minutes. For air fryer preparation, cook at 400F for 7 minutes (Note: Cory prefers the air fryer for this recipe as it gives the flesh of the sockeye salmon a nice firm texture with a slight crispness.) Once the salmon is cooked, remove the skin.

Plating

To serve this recipe, pour the soup into a lower-rim bowl. Place the salmon portions into the soup. Garnish with a swirl of cream, chilli oil, green onions and some crunchy croutons for a bit of added texture!

Servings: 1-2 people

Preparation/cook time: 20 minutes

Source: Chef Cory Walby - check him out on Instagram at @saturday_night_test_kitchen and Go Wild BC Salmon