Wild Rice Chowder

This is a chowder that I never really use a recipe for, so keep that in mind with the measurements! None of the measurements are exact - you can make changes as you like.  

If you haven't ever made a white sauce before, you may want to find better instructions somewhere than those I am leaving. Here's one example at about.com

How to Make a White Sauce

 (You don't have to use sharp cheddar cheese, I just like sharp better than mild.) Makes a large batch - depending on how many vegetables, how much broth you decide to use.

RICE:

1 cup wild rice, dry

water to cook rice

VEGGIES IN STOCK:

Chicken stock or bouillon - 6 cups (enough to cover vegetables in pan)

5 carrots, diced

3 onions, diced

5 potatoes, diced

WHITE SAUCE:

butter, 1/2 cup

4 cups milk

3-4 Tbsp flour

2 Tbsp water

3 cups cheddar cheese, sharp

salt and pepper

(bacon or ham - optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Cook wild rice according to instructions.

While wild rice is cooking, chop vegetables into bite-sized pieces (use any combination and amount of vegetable you want to). Add the vegetables to a stock pan, and put in chicken stock - enough to cover vegetables completely. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer for approximately 10-15 minutes or until veggies are tender.

While veggies are cooking, make a white sauce as follows. Melt butter in a saucepan. Add 2 Tbsp water to flour in a small cup or bowl. Stir or whisk to try to remove all lumps. Add more water as needed. You can use more or less as desired. Like I said, I don't measure. You do want a thick white sauce because you're using quite a bit of water in cooking the veggies.

Usually with a white sauce, you're going to "cook" the flour with the butter for a minute or two. You may need to add a little of the milk to the butter first, before you add the flour. Whisk the flour/water mixture into the butter. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Slowly add the milk (either add very slowly or you can actually HEAT the milk before adding). Stir constantly over low heat until thick, 5-10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add 3 cups sharp cheddar cheese. Stir until cheese is completely melted.

When all of the components (wild rice, veggies, white sauce) have completed cooking, combine them.

Makes a very large batch of soup.

Chicken Rice Soup

ala Janet

This is my mom's chicken rice soup recipe, which may or may not ever be made by yours truly, due to the fact that involves handling and taking meat off a whole chicken.

3-4 # broiler - that's a whole chicken
6 1/2 cups water
1 medium onion
2 ribs celery (ribs mom?)
1 clove garlic
1 bay leaf

Cook and simmer for 1 hour or until that whole darn chicken is cooked. Strain the stock and discard the veggies. Skin and bone chicken (hmmm...this would be where you lose me). Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces. Skim fat from stock. ohmylord this is a lot of work.

1 cup grated carrots
2/3 cup uncooked rice
1/2 cup chopped onion
4 oz can chopped green chilies (secret ingredient...now you know)
2 chicken bouillioun cubes (how the heck do you spell bouillion?)...and why the heck do you NEED bouillion when you've just cooked a whole bird?
salt
pepper
cumin...to taste I suppose. Probably not much cumin. 1/2 teaspoon I guess.

Combine stock and the rest of the ingredients except for the chicken. Cook for 30 minutes or until rice is tender. Add chicken.

WOW. I have a whole new respect for this chicken soup. And I am 99% certain I will never be making it.

Hot & Sour Soup ... sorta

Every once in a while, my mom or I will want to make this soup. "Remember that crab/noodle soup?" one of us will say to the other. And invariably, neither of us will be able to find the recipe.  Well, after the big purge of my spare bedroom...which unearthed lots of pieces of paper with recipes dashed on them...I have found the recipe. And putting recipes up on a blog inspires me to finally organize these scraps of paper and index cards. Maybe this will become the Auntie B/Grandma recipe page. :) 

8 oz imitation crab, flake style (I know...)

3 1/2 cups water

1-2 tbsp of rice vinegar (or white vinegar)

several dashes of hot pepper sauce (tabasco)

1 can of sliced mushrooms

1 can of sliced water chestnuts

1 carrot, shredded

1 pkg of soy sauce flavored ramen noodles (break noodles into pieces)

In a 2 qt microwaveable dish, combine water, vinegar, and hot pepper sauce. Microwave for 4-6 minutes or until boiling. Stir in noodles, flavor packet, and shredded carrot. Microwave for 3 minutes or until noodles are cooked. Stir halfway through cooking. Stir in fish, mushrooms, water chestnuts and microwave for 1-2 minutes more.