Crunchy Salmon Chowder

This lusciousness is a prime example of how Papa cooks with me. I was doing my pantry inventory last week, trying to come up with recipes. I was stumped. And then my eyes went "barley...cream of celery soup...water chestnuts. Wait, WHAT?"
Daddy was at it again. I would never have thought of putting these things together, as I'm a bit narrow minded in food categorization. Water chestnuts=stir fry. Not salmon chowder.
But the longer I thought about it and realized I needed to use these ingredients, the tastier it sounded.
So last night, this is how it went down.


Crunchy Salmon Chowder
1 1/2 cups dry Barley, cooked in proportion to water required on package. This takes 45 minutes, so watch an episode of something.
Near the end of the barley cook time, oil a skillet and lay down a generous sprinkling of Lemon Pepper. I used McCormick, which has some other herbs in it. Heat was....MedHi?
Thrown down 2 decent Salmon fillets and show them who's boss. Douse with more Lemon Pepper, some Lime Juice, and a dusting of Garlic for the brave.
In my experience, salmon takes about as long and about as many flips as pancakes. Cook till opaque.
Break it up! I used my spatula. Nothing fancy. It got the message.
Put the chipped salmon in a bowl and rinse your skillet.
Dump 2 cans Water Chestnuts (sliced any way you like, just not left whole) into the skillet. Turn down to Medium. To get the flavor going, I sprinkled mine with Celery Salt and Onion Powder. I think some Pepper made it in there as well. Oh, and 2 1/2 tsp Butter.
Saute that for a minute or three and don't forget to turn off the heat under your barley!
Schloop in a can of condensed Cream of Celery Soup. Fill said can with Milk (I used whole cow's milk) and pour into skillet, stirring constantly.
When that's all mixed in and the flavors have had a minute to say howdy, add the barley! Mix well, you don't want any clumps of dry barley in this puppy. =)
I served mine in soup mugs, topped with about 1 1/2 Tbsp of the chipped salmon per serving. I wasn't going to do that, just serve the salmon on the side. Haha, this was WAY better!
This should feed 4 with hearty appetites and a salad on the side.
Stick-to-your-ribs good. The water chestnuts were so unexpected, very pleasant in a thick and creamy dish.

Enjoy!