in the kitchen: wild rice and mushroom soup

annnd it's Monday again! oofda. With Ry out of town for the weekend, I had some time to catch up a few projects I had been putting off and then headed to the 'burbs to see my parents (and Bailey too!). The weather was surprisingly nice, so my mom and I were able to walk with Bailey and catch up-we could talk for hours! Later my mom, dad and I went their favorite spot in town and we sipped on our favorite (dirty) martinis, while munching on pistachios-the perfect combination in my opinion.

Even though I had the goal of getting some cooking done while I was home, my mom was actually the one who was cheffin' it up with this weekend with a delicious wild rice and mushroom soup from Cooks Illustrated. I am a huge fan of wild rice and can never get enough mushrooms, so this recipe was a great marrying of the two ingredients. Best of all, unlike a lot of other rice & mushroom soup recipes I have seen, this one required very little heavy cream, so you can enjoy practically guilt-free!

Fun fact: wild rice is actually not rice! It is an aquatic grass that grows naturally in lakes and is cultivated in man-made paddies.

Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup via Cooks Illustrated

¼ cup dried shiitake mushrooms, rinsed

4 ¼ cups of water

1 sprig fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

1 garlic clove peeled, 4 garlic cloves minced

Salt and pepper

¼ tsp baking soda

1 cup wild rice

4 tbsp unsalted butter

1 pound cremini mushrooms, trimmed and sliced (can be substituted for white mushrooms)

1 onion, chopped finely

1 tsp tomato paste

2/3 cup dried sherry

4 cups low-sodium chicken stock (or vegetable stock)

1 tbsp soy sauce

¼ cup cornstarch

½ cup heavy cream

¼ cup fresh chives, minced

¼ tsp finely grated lemon zest

*don't be scared off by the ingredient list-the prep is actually very easy!

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Grind shiitake mushrooms in spice grinder (or blender) until finely ground.
2. Bring 4 cups of water with thyme, bay leaf, garlic clove, ¾ tsp salt, and baking soda to a boil in medium saucepan over high heat. Add rice and return to a boil
3. Cover saucepan, transfer to oven, and bake until rice is tender-about 35-50 minutes. Strain rice through mesh strainer, saving cooking liquid. Discard thyme, bay leaf, and garlic. Add water to your reserved liquid so that you have 3 cups of water.
4. Melt butter in Dutch oven (or cooking pot) over high heat. Add cremini mushroom, onion, minced garlic, tomato paste, ¾ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper. Cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are brown and a dark fond (residue) develops on the bottom of your pan.
5. Add sherry, scraping up any browned bits and cook until reduced and pot is almost dry. (about 2 minutes). Add ground shiitake mushroom, reserved rice cooking liquid, and soy sauce and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a low simmer, covered, until mushrooms and onions are tender-about 20 minutes.
6. Whisk corn starch and ¼ cup rice water in small bowl to form a roux. Stir the mixture into the soup, return to a simmer, and cook until thickened. Remove pot from heat and stir in wild rice, cream, chives and lemon zest. Cover and let stand for 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve!

We paired our soup with a delicious fresh salad and our favorite homemade French bread...hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Bon appetit!

Comfort food: Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

Yesterday I mentioned how perfect this Vidalia onion & Wild rice soup (via Smitten Kitchen) sounded and what do ya know, I followed through and whipped it up last night! 


The soup was so easy to make and really only took a little while because of having to cook the wild rice. I also had some leftover baked chicken, seasoned lightly with salt, pepper, and thyme, that I decided to shred and add into the soup-so delicious! 


I also added a sea salt vegetable bouillon cube to the chicken broth instead of the herb bundle the recipe called for. I thought that this was a great substitute and added the perfect amount of flavor to the broth. The only thing missing for us was the homemade baguette croutons, but the flavor of the soup was spot on, so the added carbs weren't missed at all!

image from Smitten Kitchen

Chicken & Vidalia Onion Soup with Wild Rice

very slightly adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Serves 4

1/2 cup wild rice, uncooked
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 1/2 pounds (about 4) Vidalia onions, or other sweet onions, quartered and very thinly sliced
6 cups chicken or vegetable stock
Sea Salt & Vegetable bouillon cube
Salt and pepper
8 slices baguette
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Blue cheese if you are making the baguette croutons!

Cook the wild rice in a small saucepan according to package directions. Usually, 2 cups of water is the amount needed for 1/2 cup wild rice. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a very low simmer and cover the pot. Let it cook, undisturbed, until the rice is tender and the water is absorbed, about 50 to 55 minutes. Set aside.

Melt the butter in the bottom of a 4- to 5-quart saucepan or Dutch oven over moderately low heat. Add the onions, toss to coat them in oil and cover the pot. Reduce the heat to real low and let them slowly steep for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, uncover the pot, raise the heat slightly and season the onions with a bit of salt and pepper. Cook onions, stirring frequently, for another 15 to 25 minutes, until they are tender, limp and sweet. Add the stock and simmer for 20 minutes. Wrap the herbs (see Note up top) in a small piece of cheesecloth and tie with kitchen string. Trotter suggests you drop the bundle into the broth for one minute, then remove it, but after going through such an effort to make one, I decided to leave mine in a little longer; it made me feel better. Adjust seasonings with additional salt and pepper, if needed.

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Brush both sides of the baguette slices with oil. Bake on a baking sheet until light golden brown, 5 to 10 minutes. While the croutons are still warm, spread them with blue cheese.

To serve, divide the rice among four bowls, and ladle broth and onions on top. Float two croutons in the center of each bowl, and sprinkle with more pepper. Eat immediately.