main soup:
2-3 cups cooked skinless chicken breasts*, shredded or diced
4 cups chicken broth
1-2 cups of cooked wild rice
3 carrots, sliced
3 celery ribs, sliced
1 large onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, chopped
Spices to taste:
Salt & pepper, to taste
1-2 tbsp sweet basil
2 tbsp chives
1 tbsp parsley
*few shakes of hot sauce, optional
*1-2 tablespoons Better than Bullion Chicken Paste, optional
Roux:
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 quart half-and-half heavy cream (I use 2 cups 2% milk and 2 cups heavy cream with great results)
directions:
- In a large saucepan, sauté the vegetables on the stove for 5-7 minutes.
- Add garlic and stir about 1 minute before adding the chicken broth.
- Add cooked chicken and spices, simmer on high, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 35 minutes.
- *Make your wild rice during this time. I make and use a box of Rice a Roni Long Grain & Wild Rice.
Make the roux mixture separately – if you heat the milk first, the entire mixture will thicken faster. This is how your soup becomes a “cream soup”…
- Melt butter in a pan with flour, stirring constantly – you will cook the flour. You want the flour to turn brown and smell slightly nutty, or your soup to taste like paste.
- Stir in the warm milk and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly, until thickened.
- Pour the roux mixture into the soup pot.
- Taste the soup to see if you still need salt, pepper, hot sauce, or better than bullion.
- Simmer another 5 minutes if you made additions. Serve hot.
CANNED NOTE:
IF you want to do this, you must do this BEFORE adding the rice or roux. You would prepare the rice and roux mixture by opening the soup to heat and eat – rice, dairy, flour and butter cannot be canned.