cream of chicken and wild rice soup

How To Make cream of chicken and wild rice soup

• Step 1
  Pre-chop all vegetables (I like mine chopped fairly small).
• Step 2
  Heat a large soup kettle, add bacon and cook till almost crisp (add olive oil if needed). Add onions, cook 3 -4 minutes then add the remaining vegetables and garlic; cook an additional 3 or 4 minutes.
• Step 3
  Add all chicken stock. Bring to a boil,(check saltiness of broth before adding additional salt). Add pepper flakes, pepper, rice and chicken. Cover pot, reduce heat and cook 45 - 60 minutes. Turn off heat, remove Thyme "sticks" and add cream. Add additional salt and pepper if needed. Serve with a crusty bread for sopping up the yummy broth!
• Step 4
  *Notes: Remove the skin from the chicken and discard. Take off breast, legs, wings and thighs. Strip meat off of legs and thighs. Put carcass, leg and thigh bones in a pot with 1 large carrot, 1 celery rib, 1 garlic clove and onion (all chopped large); add 2 cups water, salt and pepper. Bring to boil and let simmer for an hour. Drain broth by placing a colander over a large bowl. When bones are cool enough you can pick out the chunks of chicken and discard remainder. (I always do this with any chicken carcass whether or not I’m making soup. It freezes well). This broth will decrease your need for the 1/2 box of broth. It's well worth the extra effort as it adds so much more flavor.
• Step 5
  I've used Herbes de Provence in place of the Thyme. It's a toss up which way I like it best. You can also finish it with 1 oz of Vermouth. I find with the sweetness of the carrots the Vermouth makes it a little too sweet.
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