CREAM OF CHICKEN & WILD RICE SOUP

This recipe looks daunting, but it's super easy!! It makes TWO batches of soup. One for dinner tonight and one for the future. It's an amazing comfort meal in the fall or winter!! Leftovers are just as good. But one note of caution... don't tell your 4 year old daughter "doesn't the wild rice look like dead bugs?"  It took her 2 years to get over that... but now she's 6 and she asks for this meal once a month!

Ingredients for freezer prep:

* 1 cup butter

* 1 large, finely chopped onion

* 3-5 stalks of celery chopped (about a cup)

* 4-5 carrots, peeled & chopped (about a cup)

* 1lb fresh sliced mushrooms

* 1 1/2 cups of flour

* 12 cups of homemade chicken broth (or store bought)

* 4 cups cooked wild rice

* 2-3lb cooked chicken, cubed or shredded

* 1 teaspoon salt (1.5-2teas. if you use homemade broth)

* 1 teaspoon curry powder

* 1 teaspoon dried parsley

* 1 teaspoon black pepper

* 1 teaspoon ground mustard

* 1/3 cup of dry sherry

Ingredients for when you're ready to serve the meal:

* 4 cups half & half (2 cups per batch)

Cooking Directions:

* melt the butter in a large pot. 

* cook the onion, celery & carrots in the butter until tender, about 5 minutes. 

* add the mushrooms and cook an additional 2 minutes

* Stir in the flour, it'll be a very thick paste. 

* SLOWLY add the chicken broth one cup at a time, stirring constantly. Wait until it's bubbly and thick before you add the next cup. The soup will be less thick with each additional cup of broth. 

* Turn off the heat and add the rice, chicken, all the seasonings and sherry. 

* Allow soup to cool before prepping to freeze. If you plan to eat it today, add the half & half and let it simmer for at least an hour on low (do not let it boil!). 

Freezing Directions:

Once cool, divide the soup into 2 freezer bags.
Lay them flat in your freezer - they'll freeze flat that way and take up less space. 

Reheating Directions:

Thaw one bag of soup and bring it to a boil. Add 2 cups of half n half, and turn down the heat. Let it simmer for 30-60minutes. It doesn't need to simmer as long as the unfrozen soup, as the seasonings meld together well int he freezer and while they thaw. Serve the soup warm. 

*This makes TWO batches of soup, each serves 6-8.


A COUPLE NOTES:

* Although I believe this soup would freeze fine with the half n half in it, I have not done so. Food safety standards say meals with milk can stay frozen for 3 months, while meals without milk can stay frozen for 6 months. So I opt to add the half n half the day I serve it. 

* I have a hard time judging how much cooked rice I'll get from dry rice... So I just cook the whole box of wild rice. And I freeze the excess. Rice is the one thing you WANT to freeze while it's still warm. It freezes great that way!

* If you don't have wild rice, you could substitute a Rice A Roni Long Grain & Wild Rice. But my family and I prefer all wild rice.