Woodbank Lane: CHICKEN AND WILD RICE SOUP

I shared this picture on Instagram of a chicken and wild rice soup that I recently made, and the crowd went wild! I received LOTS of DMs for the recipe, so here it is!

This soup is adapted from a recipe in the book called Hungry for Home written by Ruth McKeaney. If you are interested, you can order the book from Amazon. In it Ruth shares the history and story of her home. Along with the book, she also has a blog where she shares other recipes and all things home. Visit it here. Now let's get cooking...

Ingredients:

2 sticks of butter

1 cup shredded carrots

3/4 cup chopped celery

3/4 cup chopped onion

6 cups shredded cooked chicken

8 cups of chicken broth

2 chicken bouillon cubes

1 box (16 oz.) long grain and wild rice mix with herbs

8 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced

1/2 cup self-rising flour

4 cups of milk

frozen puff pastry

Directions:

Melt 1 stick of butter in a large Dutch oven.
Add the celery, onions, and carrots and cook for approximately 5 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. (I probably cooked them more like 7 or 8 minutes.)
Stir in the broth and bouillon cubes.
Add the rice, seasoning mix, and shredded chicken.
Simmer for about 40 minutes.
In a separate large skillet, melt the remaining stick of butter and then add the mushrooms.
Mix in the flour and the milk. Cook the mushroom mixture on medium-high heat until it is bubbly, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat slightly. (I cooked it about five minutes after the bubbling started to soften up the mushrooms a little.)
Afterwards, add the mushroom mixture to the soup. Simmer and cook until thickened.
Unfold thawed puff pastry (following directions on box), and cut into hearts with a sharp knife or use a heart-shaped cookie cutter. Bake according to instructions until golden brown. Add the hearts to the top of the soup. Enjoy!