Comfort Food for a Cold Winter Night

In Minnesota, it’s usually cold in January, very cold. This year has been the exception. Even with the warmer than usual weather, comfort foods are still at the top of the menu lists. Pot roast with mashed potatoes and gravy, wild rice soup, and hearty spaghetti with Italian meat sauce are family requests on cold winter nights. Here is my family’s favorite recipe for Wild Rice Soup. It takes a little longer to make from scratch but it is worth the work.

Chicken Wild Rice Soup
4 chicken breasts
8 C water
2-3 Tbsp. chicken bouillon
1 C carrots, diced
1 onion, diced
3 stalks celery, sliced
½ C butter
½ C Wondra flour
1 C heavy cream
salt & pepper
¼ lb. bacon
4 C wild rice, cooked

Cook chicken in water on low until tender and cooked through. Remove from water. Reserve the chicken stock. Cool chicken and cut into bit-size pieces. Pour water through a sieve into a stockpot. Add bouillon, carrots, onions and celery. Simmer until vegetables are soft.

Cut bacon into bite-size pieces. Fry until cooked through but not crispy. Drain on paper towels.

In skillet, melt butter. Remove from heat. Whisk in Wondra until the roux is the consistency of coarse paste. Add this mixture to the broth and vegetables.

Stir in cream. Add wild rice, bacon and chicken. Simmer on low. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

NOTE: If the soup is too runny, remove a cup of liquid, whisk in more Wondra and stir this mixture into the soup.

Enjoy hearty comfort foods in the cold winter months. Thank God for the beautiful snow. After a brown Christmas, I’m dreaming of a white Valentine’s Day!

© 2012 Becky Danielson. All rights reserved.

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Photo by Teddy Kelley on Unsplash