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Chicken and Rice Soup

Source of Recipe

From "Real Cajun" by Donald Link


Recipe Introduction

"As far as I'm concerned, this is one of the world's best comfort dishes, especially if you're under the weather. This is a very easy recipe to prepare, especially if you already have some chicken broth in your freezer. Simmering the chicken broth slowly with a roasted chicken develops a rich, concentrated chicken flavor that makes this soup extraordinary. As with gumbo and other soups, this one is even better on the second day. In a pinch you can make this soup with a store-bought roasted chicken and some low-sodium chicken broth, which will cut the prep time down by more than half and still yield delicious results."

List of Ingredients

◦  1 roasted chicken
◦  3 quarts chicken broth
◦  2 tablespoons butter or reserved chicken fat (see instructions)
◦  1 small onion, diced
◦  3 celery stalks, diced
◦  4 small carrots, diced
◦  12 cremini mushrooms, thickly sliced
◦  4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
◦  8 bay leaves
◦  1 bunch scallions (green and white parts), chopped
◦  1 tablespoon salt
◦  1 teaspoon ground black pepper
◦  2 teaspoons dried oregano
◦  2 to 3 cups cooked rice


Recipe

If you have roasted the chicken yourself, set the drippings aside to allow the fat to rise to the surface. Pick the chicken meat from the bones (discard skin) and chop into ½-inch chunks, cover, and refrigerate. Transfer the chicken carcass to a stockpot and add 3 quarts broth. Bring the broth to a boil, skim as necessary, reduce the heat to low, and then simmer for 1½ hours. Strain the broth and reserve.

Heat 2 tablespoons of butter (or the same amount of chicken fat, skimmed from the top of the pan drippings) in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, carrots, mushrooms, garlic, bay leaves, scallions, salt, pepper, and oregano and cook, stirring for a few minutes, until the vegetables soften; they should not brown.

Add the strained chicken broth and the diced chicken. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer 30 to 40 minutes, until the chicken starts to break down and meld with the stock. When the soup is finished, add the rice, taste for seasonings, and adjust salt and pepper as desired and serve.


Serves 6 to 8


Note:
You can also scoop the rice individually into serving bowls and ladle the soup on top if you don't want to add it to the soup all at once (the rice will thicken the soup overnight and make the liquid a bit more cloudy).