Thursday, September 23, 2010

Why yes, I do take requests...

as long as karaoke is not involved.  I gave that all up a long time ago with my mall bangs, keggers and acid-washed jeans.  I would be remiss if I didn't give a big shout out to my Copacabana back-up singers though!  Hey girls!  :)

Anyhoo, my friend Michele e-mailed me this week looking for my Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup recipe.  I was going to just e-mail it back when she reminded me that I now have my very own fancy schmancy soup blog.  Some recipes should just be shared with the world.  This is one of them.  No joke.

So this is my own personal take on Panera's Creamy Chicken and Rice Soup.  I made at least 10 versions of this soup before I got it exactly the way I wanted it.  Now it is one of my Top 5 favorite foods of all time, coming in only slightly behind the Totino's Pizza Roll.  Don't be intimidated by my sophisticated and discriminating palate either, I promise you will love this recipe too.


Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
Makes 6 - 8 servings

Ingredients:

1/2    cup chopped onion
1/2    cup chopped celery
1/2    cup chopped carrots
Olive Oil

4       cups chicken broth
2       cups water
2       cooked, boneless chicken breast halves, shredded
1       package quick cooking long grain and wild rice with seasoning packet
1/2    teaspoon salt
1/2    teaspoon ground black pepper
3/4    cup all-purpose flour
1/2    cup butter
2       cups heavy cream

In a small saucepan, saute chopped vegetables in a bit of olive oil on low heat until tender, about 4 to 5 minutes.  Put aside.

In a large pot over medium heat, combine broth, water and chicken. Bring just to boiling, stir in rice while reserving the seasoning packet. Cover and remove from heat.

In a small bowl, combine salt, pepper and flour. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in contents of seasoning packet until mixture is bubbly. Reduce heat to low, then stir in flour mixture by a couple of tablespoons at a time forming a roux. Whisk in cream, a little bit at a time, until fully incorporated and smooth. Cook until thickened for about 5 minutes.

Stir cream mixture into broth and rice and add in your sauted vegetables. Cook over medium heat until heated through, 10 to 15 minutes.


**Tips and tricks:  This is a great recipe for leftover chicken or a rotisserie chicken from the deli.  I prefer Uncle Ben's Long Grain Wild Rice for this recipe, I think the seasoning is the best hands down.  Roux is just a fancy French word for "pasty-like stuff made from flour and butter".  It's basically the thickening agent for the soup.  Your roux should be the consistency of prepared brownie mix.  Please note, it doesn't taste as good as brownie mix...so don't try it plain out of the pot.  Blech.  In an effort to be more health-conscious, I often subsitute half-and-half , 2% milk or a combination of the two in lieu of heavy cream.  My preferred combo is 1 cup half-and-half and 1 cup of milk.  Totally personal preference. 

6 comments:

  1. Sounds delish! I'm going to try it with fat free half and half in place of the heavy cream. Should work!

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  2. Are we missing a vegetable. Your recipe says onion, celery, onion again?

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  3. my tip: i put the veggies in the pot when putting the rice in. They stay crunchy but still get cooked while the rice is cooking!

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  4. Helene, I DID omit a vegetable! Will you be surprised to hear it is my dreaded lifelong nemesis...the carrot? LOL! I have fixed the recipe, sorry for any confusion!

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  5. I have this in the crockpot for dinner tonight. It's so cool here today that I bet this will be very welcomed with some beer bread.
    Thanks again Shannon.

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  6. Bridget: do you cook it ahead of time and then put it in the crockpot?

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