Very sweet of Teresa and lucky for you. I made Chicken and Wild Rice Soup last week. It's one of my favorite soups and it has turned much cooler here. Last night was about 42 with a lower wind chill. Yes indeed, soup weather for sure.

Ah, more aquatic grass seed, how nice! This talk of wild rice prompted me to buy a blend earlier this week - white, brown, red and wild. I know I'm not talking close to the same thing but yes, I was inspired.

OT - Annie, did you get a new camera? Something about your last three picture threads (wedding, Nancy/Kim, wild rice) looks different. I can half-way put my finger on it. ;-)

Oops, nevermind. Just went to WFD. There's the Annie we know and love! LOL!!!

(Don't mind me!)

What a sweet gift!

Annie, I know you will love it! There are tons of great WR soup recipes out there , and I think you already have mine.

Linda

Linda - what is your wild rice recipe for? Soup? Dressing?

Teresa

FOAS, that's what happens when I try to take a picture of Ashley's plate when she's hungry. "Hurry up....". Or when I'm hungry, LOL.

The others I actually got to take a minute to focus.

Linda, I do indeed have your recipe for wild rice soup. And wasn't it included in the soup cookbook that someone did a while ago?

Annie

Hey Annie - not sure if this is the recipe you are thinking of, but this was posted by catlover way back in 2005. And even though it has a ton of Cream of ___ soups, I get around them by adding the chicken stock (or base) and mushrooms and making a veloute to thicken. Otherwise, it is still the one I turn to whenever I have wild rice on hand.

Alexa

Wild rice soup
Catlover on the CF

4-4.5 cups chicken stock
2/3 c. wild rice cured and rinsed*
1/2 c. diced onion
1/2 c. diced celery
1/2 c. diced carrots
2-3 slices bacon
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 to 1 c. diced velvetta (1/4 lb.)
1 pint half and half
3tbs. butter/1 tbs. flour
saute veggies, onions, and bacon;
stir in broth and rice and soups-heat
add 1/2 and 1/2 and heat
add velvetta-heat
after thoroughly heated --mix flour and butter together and add to soup--if you think it is thick enough-skip this step
*To cure wild rice-put it in a bowl-cover 2-3 in. of water-cook on high in the microwave for about 20 minutes. Do not let get dry--the wild rice will "pop" ; rinse prior to adding to soup

Nope, Alexa, it was this one. Somehow I think I can find something to take the place of one tablespoon of white wine. (grin)

Linda's Minnesota Wild Rice Soup

2T butter
1/4c chopped onion
1/2c flour
4c chicken broth
1-1/2c cooked wild rice
1/2 tsp salt
1c diced chicken or ham
1/2c grated carrot
1c half and half
1T dry white wine
1/2c slivered almonds

Melt butter in saucepan, saute onion til tender. Whisk in flour then gradually add broth. Cook, stirring constantly until thickened. Add rice, salt, chicken, and carrots. Blend in cream and wine, heat to serving temperature. Garnish with slivered almonds.

I'm thinking that if I cook the wild rice in the crockpot the rest should come together quickly.

Annie

Annie - that looks very similar to the recipe Byerly's has printed on the bags of wild rice they have sold for the past 30 years. It is delicious. They also have it in the deli and in the frozen section because it is so popular. I usually add sherry in place of the white wine when I make it.

The tiny package of rice I sent is actually Byerly's cultivated wild rice. I sent it for you to compare the colors between cultivated and the marsh grown wild stuff.

I will have to try Alexa's method of microwaving the rice. I do mine on the top of the stove OR baked in a covered casserole in the oven. I'll give the MW a try.

Hope you come home to a tasty batch of soup on Sunday! And let me know how you cook the rice ahead of time in the crock pot. I got that large crock pot earlier this year. That would be yet another way to cook up large batches to freeze. I have to make a huge batch of the soup for the deer hunting trip. Getting the rice done ahead of time in the crock pot would be great.

Teresa

I'm sure there are lots of great ones out there. The one Alexa shows above is the one I always turn to also except mine does not have bacon or Velveeta. As for curing the rice, I found it is better to just cook it by package directions. It is a fabulous soup recipe. I must try it with the Velveeta and bacon.

Annie, whatever you do, don't make Chinese fried rice with it.

I am sure you will enjoy this very special substance. I know I have.

dcarch

Glad to see this thread as I received a package of wild rice from one of our quilting forum members when we had our 4th annual retreat at Camp Cheerio earlier this month. I plan to use it in chicken and wild rice soup as soon as the weather shows it means business about getting colder.

So, it looks like most recipes have the wild rice cooked in broth along with the other ingredients? I wondered if the rice should be cooked separately then added to the soup? Also, I thought about adding in an equal amount of brown rice - using equal parts of wild and brown rice for the total rice measurement. What do you think?

Teresa (who doesn't care for wild rice by itself, but does like soup made with the stuff)

I tried different methods of cooking the rice and it came out better for me if I just cooked is separately by itself, drained and added to the finished soup. I cooked in water, although I'm sure chicken or vegetable broth would be good.

I think it's a matter of preference whether or not to add the brown rice. For me I like just the wild rice added to my soup and I don't like it thick with the rice. I'm really not crazy about wild rice any other way besides in the soup.

Teresa, I think I'm going to put it into the crockpot tomorrow with broth and cook it, then add soup ingredients when I get home.

I have a recipe for yeast rolls with wild rice in them that I kind of want to try too, so I'll need cooked wild rice for that.

I just found out that the adjoining county actually has some wild rice "fields" and that the local college is taking a few people out and showing them the traditional way of harvesting, by striking the grasses with wooden "knockers", knocking the rice into the bottoms of canoes. The owner of the fields is a local tribe and I think they are hoping to sell the stuff commercially in the future, so I might have wild rice right next door!

Annie

Teresa (NC) I always cook the rice separately and add it to the soup then simmer.

Linda

I love wild rice! For years have bought from a small company in Bemidji, MN. Here is one of their recipes: KC's BEST wild rice soup recipe They say to cook the rice separately before adding to the soup too.

Mostly I use as a burrito ingredient. Click on the album thumbnail that this link displays: Wild Rice/Egg Breakfast Burrito

j

This recipe came about several years ago when my husband was surprising me by cooking (a rare occasion) but the wild rice dish was undercooked. I added to it and now I have a soup that is a hit with family and friends. It uses canned soup so it is not for the purists among us.

Wild Rice and Sausage Soup

2 Tbsp. Butter
2 Tbsp. Olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped mushrooms
2 10.5 oz. cans cream of mushroom soup
2 10.5 oz cans cream of chicken soup
2 14 oz cans Swanson chicken broth (some brands are too salty)
6 oz. cooked wild rice
1 can beer
1 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp. dried basil
2 tsp. oregano
ý tsp. ground red pepper
1 Tbsp. garlic powder
6 hot Italian sausages, cooked and sliced

Sauté the onion, celery and mushrooms in the butter and olive oil. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for about one hour. Flavors are best when soup is prepared a day in advance.

Alexa,

Your microwave method for cooking the rice works fantastic! After reading this thread last night, I dug through the refrigerator and managed to come up with enough ingredients for a chicken, wild rice and vegetable soup with a splash of dry vermouth. It was wonderful! Even DH who normally grouses about anything but white rice loved the wild rice. Thank you!