Salmon as is the fish....

I have a friend and one day we were talking of the bargains we get at the grocery store. Money is tight for everyone and I’ve never hidden the fact that I buy things all the time reduced. Its how I’ve learned to have a varied diet but also to try things I could never afford full price. So we were talking and he was hoping to find some whole salmon at one of the famous stores here in the UK. So being the ‘use everything type of person’ I asked ‘What do you do with the bones?’ To which I got this very weird look like I just spoke in a foreign tongue – ‘What do you mean? I don’t want the bones I just want the salmon fillets.’

OK, now I know I am weird but I try to use everything – I too have gotten this whole salmon and I must admit the fish monger gave me quite a stare when I said ‘Please wrap up those bones for me too.’ Hey – you paid for them why not use them?! So when I heard he didn’t ask for them much less used them I said ‘Next time you do that bring me the bones – I make a soup with it.’

Mind you we had this particular conversation ages ago but this past week my friend said ‘I’ve got something for you in the fridge – come collect it.’ Not having a clue what this could be I went and lo and behold there were the fish bones! Awwwww...so sweet!

So today I made the stock and took what fish was still clinging to the bones and added this to the stock. Now for those of you who think – you don’t get much from bones – check out this plate of salmon I got from the carcass! Yes, I will admit it took me about 20 minutes of picking through the bones to get at the meat but that was really about the most tedious thing I had to do.I then added one onion, some crushed garlic, celery and two carrots that needed using from the larder. I can quickly peel and chop the veggies and pop those into the stock – I let that simmer about 10 minutes – they aren’t done but since I’ll re-heat the stock to cook my homemade pasta noodles it will cook further.

I made some pasta noodles for it as well so now it’s really quite a substantial evening meal. I must admit I don’t like canned soup. Over here everything is puréed so that it’s nearly baby food. To me soup has have some substance to it – you actually have to chew! So all in all I spent probably an hour getting the stock ready, picking the bones out for the meat, peeling the veggies and chopping them, preparing the pasta dough and then rolling it on the pasta machine plus doing the dishes in that time. If you add the time it took to cook the pasta in the stock – you’d have to add another 5 minutes but I don’t count that as I made the pasta ahead of time and left it on the counter until dinner time (covered with some cling film and a tea towel) so that when I got home from shopping I just had to add when it was boiling.

The pasta thickens up the stock and I have never been one for a clear soup – to me that is BoRiNg! I have also used this stock to make the Greek Egg/Lemon soup as well and while not authentic to the recipe it certainly was delicious. As usual no complaints in this house!So go off and find your bones and make soup! It's about the best winter dish I can think of and warms your body as well as your soul. Enjoy!