The Home Cook: Chicken-Bacon Wild Rice Soup

A lot can be said for this time of year, that place in the seasonal calendar that invites sweaters, scarves and long grey skies. This is the time of year that brings us into our kitchens and rewards us for spending time bent over deep stock pots and warm ovens. During the next few months the aromas from our kitchens will be deep and rich, reflecting hours of simmering and braising, deep spices and complex flavors. And sometimes, among all the labor intensive dishes and recipes of winter, you'll find something that captures the season and serves it up with relative ease.

When it comes to soup, there is little else that captures a winter mood better. A bowl of dense homemade noodles and comfort of chicken noodle soup, perhaps the savory flavors of beef stew, maybe the heartiness of a good chowder or the simplicity of a tomato bisque, whatever calls to you on those days laced with fluttering snowflakes and steaming cups of coffee, soup has it covered. Regardless of your favorite, from bisque to chowder, there is just something wonderful about a warm bowl of soup on a cool, clammy day.

Of course the most wonderful thing about soup is it's relative ease, with a little time dedicated to some chopping and maybe a little sauteing you have the base for hundreds of variations at your fingertips. Soups are infinitely flexible in their makeup, allowing for a range of whims and fancies. With the cold weather creeping in and the holidays fast approaching, set aside a bit of time and let your stove simmer away on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Carrots and onions. Celery and butter. Potatoes and cream. Doesn't that sound like the beginning of something really very good?

Chicken-Bacon and Wild Rice Soup

3 Tablespoons Butter, softened
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup carrots
4 strips Thick-Sliced Bacon, fried and diced
4 to 4 1/2 cups Chicken Broth
2/3 cups Wild Rice, rinsed
2 small potatoes, cut into 1/4" cubes, par-boiled
1 to 1 1/2 cups Whipping Cream
1 Tablespoon Flour
Salt and Pepper to Taste
2 Tablespoons minced fresh Parsley

Saute rice, onion, celery, carrots and bacon in 2 table spoons butter in a Dutch Oven until vegetables are crisp tender, about 3 minutes. Stir in 4 cups of the broth and the rice. Heat, stirring occasionally, until rice is done. Add in potatoes and 1 cup of cream.

Mix remaining butter and flour in a small bowl to form a smooth paste. Use a wire whisk to stir into soup. Cook, stirring occasionally, until soup thickens and bubbles for one minute.

For a thinner soup, stir in all or part of the remaining cream and broth. Season to taste with salt and pepper, sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately.