Minnesota Wild Rice Soup

Yes, I know this is a quilting blog and I should stick to that topic, but Sheryl at Quilting Tizzy asked for my Wild Rice Soup Recipe and this is the easiest way for me to share it.  Add to that another quilter, Judy at Patchwork Times, has issued a 'What's Cooking?' challenge and the weekly ingredient - Carrots- happen to be an ingredient in the soup.  So it's a two for one blog post I guess.

Now recipes are just a guideline for me.  I can't ever stick to the exact ingredients, especially for soups which are so flexible.  Go with what you have on hand and be creative!  So here's my recipe with a few side comments. 

Minnesota Wild Rice Soup
serves 4  (recipe can easily be doubled to serve 8)
from Jean at QuiltAwhile.blogspot.com

1/4 cup butter/margarine
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1/2 cup finely chopped carrots
4 oz mushrooms, chopped (canned or fresh)
1/4 cup raw wild rice (may be pre-cooked)
1/8 cup raw white rice
 3 cups chicken stock/broth
2 Tablespoons cooking sherry or white cooking wine (secret ingredient)
1/4 teaspoon white or black pepper
1 teaspoon salt (1/2 tsp if using boullion cubes to make chicken stock)
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup diced cooked  chicken or turkey
1/2 cup diced cooked ham
(optional) a cup of frozen peas or a Tablespoon of dried parsley for color
1 cup milk or half & half
1&1/2 Tablespoons cornstarch (2 Tbsp if using milk)
1/8 cup slivered almonds

You can pre-cook the wild rice according to package directions.  The wild rice does puff up more that way because you can use higher heat than the simmering for soup. (Even though this is Wild Rice soup, you could use just all white rice or brown rice and it would still be pretty good.  I like a mix of wild and white rices.)
Pre-cook meat (I often boil up a chicken breast or use leftovers.  All chicken/turkey, all ham, or a combination all work well.  Use less salt if you just have all ham.)
Saute' chopped onion, celery, carrots and mushrooms in butter.
Add chicken stock, bay leaf, salt & pepper, rice, and meats.
Cover and simmer until rice is completely cooked. (1&1/4 hours for raw wild rice, 30 min for just raw white rice.)
Mix cornstarch into cold milk.  Add to soup and heat through to thicken the soup.
Add almonds and remove bay leaf before serving.


Sorry there's no photo - we ate the soup all up before I thought of taking a picture!