I think it's better than Ivars. It's my own recipe and really easy.

Bunch of celery chopped
1/2 sweet onion chopped
2-3 cloves of minced garlic

Saute this in olive oil and butter (I just eye the oil and about 1/8 of a stick of butter) until the onion is carmelized. When the veggies are done sauteeing there should be enough oil left to make a rue.

3 Tablespoons of flour

Mix this in with the veggies and let it cook for a few minutes, should be bubbling.

1 carton of beef broth or 2 cans. I let it thicken up a bit and then add 1 pint of half and half or cream and then about 2-3 quarts of milk. Let it thicken up a bit. Add 5-6 cut up potatoes and let them cook and soften.

Add about 1lb or more if you like of salmon. I let it poach a bit and then add the smoked salmon. I use just enough smoked salmon to flavor it. Taste and season to taste. I love salmon so I add a lot of raw salmon and then as much smoked salmon as I can afford.

This chowder is soooo yummy, even kids will love it. My daughter is very picky and gobbles this up. It's really good with artisan bread to dip!

Enjoy!

This sounds good! Would this work with canned smoked salmon? My husband brought me back several cans from a recent trip to Seattle, and I'm running out of ideas to use it!

Oooh that sounds great! I have some smoked salmon I need to use up!

But, beef broth with fish?? Really?

Yes, I think the canned smoke salmon would work just fine. I use the smoked salmon just to mostly flavor the soup and then I add any other kind of salmon for the healthy part of it. I love big hunks of salmon in it.

And YES, beef broth makes it taste so rich and homemade. I actually discovered it by accident...I didn't have chicken broth so I used beef broth and it was SO yummy. I'm sure you could use chicken or veggie broth too if you want and it would still be yummy. I just love using beef broth in it.