Salmon Chowder with Gluten-Free Biscuits

This salmon chowder is chunky and holds up to the meatiness of the salmon.  It was a hit at home and the biscuits are perfect for dunking into the creamy soup.

For the chowder:

1 tbsp butter

1 leek

1 white onion

3 cloves garlic

2 tsp arrowroot

1 potato (peeled and cubed)

1 sweet potato (peeled and cubed)

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

1/3 cup cream

4 quarts chicken or vegetable stock

4 tbsp. fresh chopped dill

1 lemon (juice)

2 lbs. salmon fillet

pinch grated nutmeg

salt and pepper to taste

First chop up the onions and leeks and saute in a deep pot with butter for about 15 minutes on medium low heat.  Grate one garlic clove and add it to the pot.  Next add the stock and the potatoes and sweet potatoes.  While the potatoes cook, remove the skin from the salmon, season with salt and pepper, and saute with a little olive oil in a non-stick pan, just enough to brown both sides.  Cut the salmon into chunks.  In this soup, I let the potatoes cook to the point that they crumbled, to act as a thickener.  I usually use flour, but since I'm doing the whole gluten free bit,  I decided this would be a good alternative.  I also use a little arrowroot, but too much of this stuff really muddys up the taste.  If you have an immersion blender, now would be a good time to whip that out.  I don't have one so I just did it without it and it turned out fine.    Now begin seasoning your soup by adding the nutmeg, two grated garlic cloves, salt, pepper and chopped dill.  Combine well. Add the cream now and blend well.  Next add the Parmesan cheese and let it melt into the soup.  Whisk well and add the cream.  Lastly add the salmon chunks and lemon juice and allow the soup to simmer.  Do not stir too much after add the salmon, because it will break into little pieces, and the beauty of this soup is that it has nice meaty bits of salmon in this delicate broth.  


I have to say that I know I've featured biscuits here before (the ones with the chili recently) but these are by far the best batch I've made. 


For the biscuits:
3 cups cheddar cheese
4 eggs
1/2 cup flax meal
1/2 cup unflavored whey powder
1/2 cup oat flour

1/2 cup almond meal
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/3 cup plain yogurt
2 tbsp. agave nectar
1 bunch scallions finely chopped
1 tbsp salt
1 pinch garlic powder

First pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Add the cheese to a bowl.  Crack the eggs, add the yogurt and agave nectar and mix in.  Next add the flax meal, blend.  Add the whey powder, blend.  Add the oat flour and blend. Basically add all of the flours and meals and baking powder and incorporate well.  Add the scallions and mix.  lastly, season with salt, and garlic powder and blend one last time.  The mixture will be really sticky.  Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray and scoop the mixture into each slot.  Bake for 22 minutes.  Serve with soup.