Food and Fatigue

We survived our "Christmas Vacation" party on Saturday night. All our guests came dressed as a character from the movie and most had a prepared line to share as they came in the door. It was a great evening.

I slept through church on Sunday morning. I woke at 10:45 am, got a glass of milk, checked email, Facebook & Pinterest...and promptly went back to sleep. I was in a fog of fatigue the entire day. My hubby was a little concerned about me, but I assured him I was fine; just needed a little recharge. I was right. I'm back to myself today. This afternoon I used up the leftover turkey and made turkey pot pies for the freezer. I'll share that recipe later in the week.

Today I want to share one of the soup recipes I made for Saturday night. I was fortunate to get my Wild Rice soup recipe from a friend who travels extensively and loves to cook.

If you aren't familiar with Wild Rice, please visit IWRA On-Line at http://www.wildrice.org/iwrawebsite/html/wildricehistory.html. We first learned about wild rice while on a fishing trip 20+ years ago in Canada. We prefer the wild harvested rice to the farm raised rice.

Everyone has a different method for cooking wild rice. Once you become familiar with it and it's nutty taste, you'll come up with your own methods and recipes. For the purpose of this recipe I will share my basic method of cooking wild rice.

I put 1/2 cup of rice into a medium saucepan. Cover generously with water. Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 20 minutes. Drain the rice and return it to the same pan. Cover with water once again and bring back to a boil. Turn your heat down and cook slowly until the rice splits and looks kind of squiggly. (I can't think of a better way to describe it!) Drain and set aside to use in the soup recipe.

Wild Rice Soup

1 stick butter
1 T. onion, chopped fine
1/2 cup flour
3 c. chicken broth
2 c. cooked wild rice (1/2 cup uncooked = 2 c. cooked)
1/3 cup minced ham
1/2 cup grated Swiss cheese
3-4 grated carrots
3 T. slivered almonds
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 c. half and half
2 T. dry sherry or dry red wine
Minced parsley or chives for garnish

Saute butter & onion. Blend in flour; gradually add broth. Cook, stirring constantly until mixture boils. Boil one minute. Stir in rice, ham, carrots, almonds & salt. Simmer 5 minutes. Blend in half and half, cheese & Sherry. Heat to serving temperature. Garnish with fresh parsley or chives.

This recipe is rich and creamy. An absolute comfort food. Serve it with some crusty bread and you have a perfect winter meal. Enjoy!