Tuna Chowder

The Soup Lady has a can of Italian-style tuna fish packed in olive oil buring a hole into her pantry shelf and cannot rest until it is put to good use. Once again, we turn to The Art of Making Real Soups (Marion Tracy, 1967) for a good idea. The introduction to this recipe simply says "An easily assembled chowder for two."

Tuna Chowder
1 potato, peeled and diced
1 onion, peeled an diced
1 branch celery, diced
2 cups stock {or 1 cup water plus 1 cup milk}
1 can tuna, drained
1/4 cup hot heavy cream

Simmmer the vegetables in the stock or water and milk until half cooked, about 10 minutes. Add the tuna and simmer until the vegetables are cooked but still firm. Serve with 2 tablespoons of the hot cream in each bowl.
Serves 2

This soup looks bland but has a bossy attitude - I just hate to see it looking so anemic. The Soup Lady adds one small carrot, peeled and diced to the list of ingredients, not so much for the flavor as for the color. That is the same reason to garnish with some fresh chopped parsley. A pinch of red pepper flakes near the end of cooking adds a nice zip. Sometimes I think it's a good idea to use the olive oil that is drained from the canned fish to saute the vegetables before adding them to the broth; other times, I leave well enough alone.

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Don't let the ease of preparation fool you - this soup is hearty and filling. Things were different in 1967, I guess, because almost every soup recipe in this cookbook comes with a suggestion for accompanying dishes to make a complete meal. The menu for this one is:
Tuna Chowder
Pizza
Fresh Fruit

Whatever. We got away easy this time. The suggestions come without recipes of their own and often leave one wondering, especially about the fixation on clams - other soups are paired with clam pie, clam pancakes and salty clam sticks.

1967. Go figure.

Comments

[shelley]

Welcome to your new digs, plog-lady!

[Blork]

Oooo, this sounds awesome! (I would have made the same carrot/parsley addition--good idea!) I have seven liters of turkey stock from our Christmas bird -- I wonder how bird stock would work with this? Would the bird and the fish fight or dance?