Improv Cooking Challenge: Herbed Salmon-Tomato Bisque

It's time for August's Improv Cooking Challenge hosted by Lesa of Edesia's Notebook. I don't know where the weeks are going.

The idea of this challenge: we are assigned two ingredients and are tasked to create a recipe with those two things.

August's assigned ingredients: tomatoes and herbs. Perfect timing! Summer tomatoes abound and fresh herbs are all over my son's garden. Since salmon is still to be had in our bay, I decided to pair them in a filling summer bisque. Bisques, after all, have to be made with seafood...otherwise, they are just soup!

Ingredients

• 1/4 C butter
• 1 C leeks, thinly sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 C fish stock
• 1 C clam juice
• 1 pound salmon filet, skinned, deboned, and chopped into thin strips
• 1/4 pound smoked salmon 
• 2 C fresh tomatoes, diced
• 3 T chopped fresh parsley
• 2 T chopped fresh cilantro
• 3 T chopped fresh dill
• salt and pepper to taste

Procedure

Melt butter in a medium stockpot over medium heat. Add leeks and garlic and cook until the leeks are translucent and softened.

Pour in the fish stock and clam juice; fold in the salmon and tomatoes. Bring to a boil and cook until fresh salmon is cooked through approximately 5 minutes.

Fold in the herbs, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately. You can certainly blend it smooth with an immersion blender; I left ours chunky and rustic.

Here's what the rest of the Improv crew made with their tomatoes and herbs...

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