Cream of Wild Rice Soup

 

2/3 cup wild rice

½ cup onion, diced

½ cup celery, diced

½ cup carrots, diced

3-4 strips bacon, diced

2 tablespoons butter

4½ cup chicken stock

½ teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried crushed rosemary

1 ½ cup heavy cream

Beurre Manie (2 tablespoon flour and 1 tablespoon butter kneaded together)

salt

pepper

fresh parsley

Sauté rice, onion, celery, carrots, and bacon in butter until vegetables are tender and bacon is crisp, 3-4 minutes. Stir in stock and herbs, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and cover. Simmer until rice is tender, 30-40 minutes. Stir in cream, whisk in Beurre Manie until soup thickens. Season. Add more stock if soup appears too thick. Serve hot and garnish with chopped fresh parsley.

From: Wisconsin Herb Cookbook by Suzanne Breckenridge & Marjorie Snyder

Rice and Mushrooms

From: Colorado Cache – Junior League of Denver, page 220

3 cups cooked, long-grain rice

½ pounds mushrooms, sliced

4 green onions, chopped, including ½ of the tops

3 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

3 tablespoons dry white wine

¼ cup chopped parsley

¼ teaspoon salt

In a small skillet, sauté onions and mushrooms in melted butter. Remove from heat. Add lemon juice, wine, parsley and salt. Combine with cooked rice. Add additional butter, if desired.

Nancy’s Notes: A nice accompaniment for fish.

Wild Rice and Cranberry Pilaf

From: Gold’n Delicious – Junior League of Spokane, p. 180

¾ cup wild rice, uncooked and rinsed

3 cups chicken broth

½ cup pearl barley

¼ cup dried cranberries or cherries, chopped

¼ cup currants

1 tablespoon butter

1/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted

Combine rice and broth in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

Combine barley, cranberries, currants and butter in a casserole dish. Add rice mixture and stir well. Cover and bake at 350° for 50 to 60 minutes, stirring once. Wild rice is done when it is tender and the liquid is absorbed.

Fluff rice mixture with a fork and stir in toasted almonds. Serves 6.

Nancy’s Notes: I seem to never simply follow a recipe, no matter how simple. I used nearly 4 cups of chicken broth – 2 15-oz. cans. When I discovered I did not have pearl barley I used sweet rice from an Asian market. I totally forgot the almonds. This dish still had a very nutty flavor and somewhat sweet with the dried cranberries and currants. Steph seemed to like. I would do again.

Toasted Rice

From: Glitter to Gourmet – Junior League of Las Vegas, page 94

1 cup uncooked rice

2 tablespoons butter

2 cups beef broth

3 green onions, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon soy sauce

Spread the rice in a heavy baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes or until toasted a golden brown color. Melt the butter in a heavy 2-quart saucepan. Stir in the toasted rice. Add the beef broth and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce the heat. Simmer for 25 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the green onions and soy sauce. Cover and let stand for a few minutes for the flavors to blend.

Yield: 4 servings

Nancy’s Notes: This is an easy twist to rice, nice to do if you’re baking the meat course and have the oven on already. I served with the Runnin’ Rebel Chicken.

Green Chile Rice Pilaf

 

From: Beyond the Rim – A Taste of Amarillo, Junior League of Amarillo

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

¼ cup chopped onion

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup rice

1 (4-ounce) can diced green chiles

2 cups chicken broth

Heat the oil in a sauté pan. Add the onion and garlic and sauté until tender.

Add the rice, chiles and broth. Bring to a boil; reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 20 minutes. Yield: 6 servings.

Nancy’s Notes: I made 9/16/09, an easy way to zip up a rice side dish. I used 1 can chicken broth and added water to equal 2 cups liquid.

Creamy Rice Pudding

 

From: Glitter to Gourmet, Junior League of Las Vegas

6 cups milk

1 cup uncooked white rice

¾ cup sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup whipping cream

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

Combine the milk, rice, sugar and salt in a 3-quart saucepan. Cook over medium heat until tiny bubbles form around the edge, stirring frequently. Reduce the heat to low and over. Simmer for 1 hour or until the rice is very tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in the vanilla. Pour into a bowl. Cover and chill for at least 3 hours or overnight.

Whip the cream in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until soft peaks form. Fold the whipped cream into the chilled rice mixture. Spoon into desert dishes and sprinkle with nutmeg.

Variation: Combine ½ cup raisins with ¼ cup bourbon or rum in a bowl. Let soak for 1 hour or longer. Add to the milk and rice mixture before cooking. Yield 10 servings.

Nancy’s Notes: Good old comfort food. This reminded me of the way my mother used to cook rice.I did not do the whipped cream addition. A great use for extra milk. I made a large bowlful, Bob and I used it both for breakfast and dinner dessert. I soaked white raisins in rum.

Runnin’ Rebel Chicken and Toasted Rice

I tried two tasty, super simple recipes from Glitter to Gourmet, the Las Vegas Junior League cookbook.

Runnin’ Rebel Chicken

1 (10-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste

1 (3-ounce) can French-fried onions

4 chicken breasts

Combine the soup, cayenne pepper and about 1 cup of the French-fried onions in a bowl and mix well. coat a 9×12-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.Arrange the chicken in the baking dish. Spread the soup mixture over the chicken. Cover the dish with foil.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through, basting the chicken frequently while baking. Remove the foil and sprinkle with the remaining onions. Bake, uncovered, at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Yield: 4 servings

This recipe was provided by Coach Bill Baryno, basketball coach of the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels.

Recipe from: Glitter to Gourmet, Savory and Sensational Recipes from the Junior League of Las Vegas.

Nancy’s Notes: This recipe couldn’t be easier and was very tasty. I served with Toasted Rice.

Toasted Rice 

1 cup uncooked rice

2 tablespoons butter

2 cups beef broth

3 green onions, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon soy sauce

 

Spread the rice in a heavy baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes or until toasted a golden brown color. Melt the butter in a heavy 2-quart saucepan. Stir in the toasted rice. Add the beef broth and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce the heat. Simmer for 25 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the green onions and soy sauce. Cover and let stand for a few minutes for the flavors to blend. 

Yield: 4 servings

 

Recipe from: Glitter to Gourmet, Savory and Sensational Recipes from the Junior League of Las Vegas. 

 

Nancy’s Notes: This is an easy twist to rice, nice to do if you’re baking the meat course and have the oven on already. I served with the Runnin’ Rebel Chicken.