(Salmon) Corn Chowder

Joy and I made this for our mom's birthday dinner. We used fresh Salmon instead of the canned that the recipe called for. I'm sure it would be delicious without the fish also. The soup was hearty and a big hit and most of the ingredients are pantry staples. Courtesy of Allrecipes.com

Salmon Chowder, serves 8, ready in about 45 minutes
3 T butter
3/4 c chopped onion
1/2 c chopped celery
1 t garlic powder
2 c diced potatoes
2 carrots, diced
2 c chicken broth
1 t salt & pepper
1 t dried dill weed
2 cans salmon (we used approx. 1 lb fresh salmon, cut into small cubes)
1 can evaporated milk
1 can creamed corn
1/2 lb cheddar cheese, shredded

1. melt butter in large pot over medium heat. Saute onion, celery and garlic powder until onions are tender. Stir in potatoes, carrots, broth, salt, pepper and dill. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Cover and simmer 20 minutes.
2. stir in salmon, evaporated milk, corn and cheese. Cook until heated through.
3. ours didn't seem very thick when we were done, so I added in some dissolved corn starch and it helped thicken it right up

Notes: this soup didn't taste "fishy" at all. The salmon flavor didn't really meld into the soup so when you had a bite of soup, if you didn't get a salmon piece, you might not even know that it was fish chowder at all. If you want it to be more fish flavored, you could add fish stock or clam juice instead of the chicken broth. Also, if you used the canned salmon and didn't drain the liquid out, it would add a little more of that flavor.