I hope everyone had a great time ringing in the new year! Dave and I had a pretty quiet night at home, which was just perfect. Cheers to 2017 being full of all good things, and more meatloaf recipes – it really has been a long time since I’ve whipped up a loaf, I’ll get right on that. 😀

Anyhoo, I thought I’d kick of the new year with a new favorite recipe I made recently. It’s easy to throw together and is crazy good as leftovers. Mmmmmmmmm, I wish I still had some left!

Ingredients for Stock
3 large bone in chicken breasts
2 stalks chopped celery
1/2 head of garlic
1 yellow onion chopped into quarters
2 large carrots chopped
1 large bunch of thyme (about 8 sprigs)
6 sprigs parsley
1 bay leaf

Ingredients for Soup
2 tbs butter
2 stalks chopped celery
2 chopped carrots
1 chopped medium yellow onion
4 tbs butter
1/2 cup flour
6 cups stock
1 1/2 cups wild rice
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/4 cup heavy cream

First, for the stock, place the chicken and all stock ingredients into a large Dutch oven and cover with water, ensuring you have at least 11 cups of water and that the chicken is fully submerged. Set the pot over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for one hour to one hour + 30 minutes until the chicken is tender. As it cooks, skim the surface of fat.

Remove the pot from the heat and remove the chicken and set aside to cool. Set up a large bowl with a strainer and strain the stock, set aside.

You can use the same large dutch oven to make the soup. Set the pot to medium heat and add 2 tbs butter, the celery, carrots and onion, cooking until soft, about 15 minutes.

During this time, begin to shred the chicken off the bone and set aside.

Next, add 4 tbs butter and 1/2 cup of flour to the veggies to make a roux, stir constantly for 2 minutes. Then add 6 cups of your chicken stock and whisk until the roux and stock are well mixed. Keep the heat at medium so the soup is simmering. Add the rice, shredded chicken, salt and pepper and cook for 20-25 minutes until rice is cooked. Add the cream last. Taste for seasoning and add any additional salt and pepper needed.

Remove from heat and serve while hot!