Wild Rice and Chicken Soup

I married a football/baseball player.  Soccer never entered the realm of his imagination...until he had a business trip to Seattle and we couldn't reach him and there were tryouts and phone calls from a coach and one thing leads to another and pretty soon you are picking  your husband up from the airport and telling him that he is going to raise a soccer player.  4 soccer players.  (yes I know that was a run on sentence)
It's a great story, but for those who are just looking for a Wild Rice and Chicken Soup recipe, it's best to stick to the story at hand.
Jake is my second son and first soccer player. He went to  Minnesota one summer to play soccer and we followed.  He flew...we drove with the other 5 children for two days straight because that is how much we love watching Jake play soccer...or football....or baseball or anything.  Jake stayed with his team and we stayed in a brand new, very empty, hotel somewhere near  a town called Elk River.  There is a little cafe there called Olde Main Eatery and they were the masters of feeding our small crowd the most delicious home cooked meals you could ever imagine!  Look them up--they have 5 stars.  The point is that they served this creamy wild rice soup that literally warmed the soul and made old Campbell 's soup commercials look lackluster.  If I had a dime for every time my kid's have said, "remember that wild rice soup in Minnesota?"... well let's just say I would have quite a few dimes.
At the risk of ruining their fond recollections of the Olde Main Eatery, I set about to at least put a wild rice soup together that would help them remember the fun we had.  My family loved it and since I believe that every kitchen should have an inexhaustible repertoire of great and varied soup recipes, I thought I would post this baby!

Here's the short list of ingredients you should gather.  I got my wild rice from Costco and I'm sure you don't need HEAVY whipping cream but since that's what Costco sells in the quantity I use then heavy cream it is. After this soup is refrigerated you will need to thin it and for that I used milk.  You know how rice absorbs all the moisture:)

Wild Rice and Chicken Soup by Sweet Suppertime

Prepare:
one cup uncooked wild rice according to package directions and reserve

Saute:
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup sliced green onions or one medium onion
3 stalks chopped celery
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

Add:
32 ounces chicken broth/stock (reserve 1 cup for thickening)
4 chicken bouillon cubes *optional
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cooked chicken breast cubed

Simmer for 15 minutes.  In the last 2 minutes add remaining 1 cup of broth (reserved) mixed with 2 tablespoons flour until all lumps are gone.  I always pour this through a strainer to avoid lumping.

Add:
1 1/2 to 2 cups cooks wild rice
2 cups cream

bring back to a low boil and serve immediately.

Garnish and Serve:
Top with slivered almonds, fresh parsley and sliced green onions.

Don't add the rice too far ahead because it will absorb much of the liquid in the soup.  When reheating you will need to add milk or additional cream, but it is delicious the second day if for some wild reason you have leftovers!

Creamy Potato Chowder

Winter just keeps lingering.  I don't know why but for some reason I keep thinking that --now that I have outlasted January--the sun should shine and the snow should melt.  Not so.  The nasty little winter storms do provide a couple of nice opportunities for those searching.
First is that it keeps soup season alive and we love soups at our house.  Second it keeps two of my boys busy with their snow shovels.  I am actually pretty proud of these two as they set out in the old truck to shovel a few walks for a couple of widows in the neighborhood. ( I refrain from following them and telling them they have missed a spot.)  Service is always a good idea and I am pretty proud of them.  So on a blustery day as they set out to do a good deed, I set about making one of their favorites dishes;  Creamy Potato Chowder.  There are as many variations of this dish as you can imagine.  Sometimes we add scrambled sausage,  sometimes we add a can of creamed corn, sometimes we load it up with cheese-- but it is always topped with bacon and served with what we call "cheezers".    Get the basic recipe down and then add the ingredients you love.  My husband wants to try it with clams.  I told him to shovel some driveways of  the elderly and we will talk.  So here's how it goes.

In a large pot combine the onion, carrots, potatoes, bouillon cubes, parsley, salt, pepper and water and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.

The water should just barely cover the vegetables as they sit in the pot.  Once the vegetables are tender add the butter, whole milk and cream and return to a low boil.  Thicken with remaining milk and flour mixture simmering for an additional 3 minutes.  Remove from the heat and serve with garnishes of your choice.

Bring it on February, soups on!

Creamy Potato Chowder  by Sweet Suppertime

1 onion chopped
4 large potatoes cubed (about six cups)
3 medium carrots grated (about two cups)
1 Tablespoon Parsley
8 chicken bouillon cubes
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
approximately 6 cups water or just enough to cover the vegetables as they sit in your pot

Bring the above ingredients to a boil and turn down to a simmer.  Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.

Add:
1/4 cup butter ( i like to use bacon grease if I have it)
2 cups whole milk
2 cups heavy cream

Bring to a nice simmer and thicken with:
1 1/2 cups additional whole milk mixed with 1/2 cup flour.  Stir this until the lumps disappear.  Add thickening to soup stirring constantly. ( I pour this through a sieve as I put it into the simmering pot of soup to prevent lumps)
Return to a simmer for three minutes, uncovered.  Remove from heat and serve.

If you are not going to serve this immediately, cover it with a lid to keep it from forming a film on top of the soup.  Garnish it with grated cheese, bacon and parsley.