Minnesota Wild Rice Soup

I'm not sure why this is named Minnesota wild rice soup.  The fact that the best wild rice, in my opinion, is produced there might be a clue.  I loved the taste of the wild rice in this soup and the way it stayed whole and chewy, even after the soup was reheated several times.  A simple recipe, it can be made very quickly if you have a fast chopping hand. I'm a slow chopper but didn't want to use a food processor.  I like uniform pieces of vegetables in my soup, so I gladly spent time chopping  carrots, leeks, and celery on Sunday, as I watched part of While You Were Sleeping for the umpteenth time. 

Alarm bells will go off for many people when they see the cream in the recipe.  I didn't use the full amount, and it tasted quite rich.  I normally drink skim or 1% milk, so just a small amount of cream feels quite decadent to my taste buds.  This would make a lovely soup for guests, where I would probably use the whole amount of cream.  After-all, what better honor than loading up your friends' arteries with lots of butter and cream?  But, this was not a fancy occasion, as you might surmise from the chipped serving bowl in the picture.

A food processor is much faster, but I think hand chopped is better for some things.

Very satisfying.  It could serve eight people as a first course, or four as the main course.

Minnesota Wild Rice Soup

(The Culinary Institute Of America Book Of Soups)

2 Tablespoons butter
3 carrots, finely diced (about 1 cup)
2 leeks, (white and light green part) finely diced. (about 2 1/2 cups)
2 stalks celery, finely diced (about 1 cup)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 quarts chicken broth
3/4 cup wild rice
1/2 teaspoon salt--or to your taste
3/4 cup hot cream  ( I used 1/4 cup, plus 2/4 cup 1% milk)
3 Tablespoons dry sherry
1/4 cup minced chives
3 Tablespoons parsley

Heat butter in a heavy soup pot over medium heat.  Add the carrots, leeks, and celery and cook about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally  Reduce the heat to low and add the flour. Cook this for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly. 

Add the stock to the flour and vegitable mixture, slowly, whisking to avoid lumps.  Bring the soup to a simmer. then add the wild rice and salt.  Simmer for 45 minutes until the rice is tender, but still a little chewy.

Add the heated cream, sherry, and chives.  Season with salt, if necessary.  Serve in bowls garnished with parsley.

Comments

[Callipygia]

First, your knife skills are mighty impressive. And I believe that my first taste of wild rice was in Minnesota. I'm with you on the cream effect by substituting some low fat milk. MMMMM.

[Kaykat]

Delicious. Does Minnesota really produce some of the best wild rice??

Awesome that you were able to cut back on the cream, that makes it even more tempting for me :)

[Kevin]

I like the idea of a wild rice soup. It sounds pretty tasty!

[Peter]

Sher, i love it and I've never heard of this soup nor that Minnesota's known for it's wild rice.

I'm intrigued enough to try this.

[Kalyn]

Just wonderful, and I do agree about your knife skills. I am a huge fan of wild rice! I'm saving this recipe.

[Julie]

No, my alarm bells do not go off for that amount of cream. But pretty regularly I see recipes that use amounts like two cups of cream for 4 servings and even though I think of myself as someone who uses cream with abandon, I find amounts like that shocking.

[sher]

Callipygia,

Thank you--but it takes me a long time to cut a fine dice. :) I've cut myself quite a few times if I try to speed it up.

Kaykat,

Yes, indeed. Wild rice is the "state grain," if I remember correctly. They still gather it the old fashioned way, which makes it taste better. And as I understand it, the cold winters make the rice better too. :)

Kevin,

Thank you--it is a very tasty soup. :)

Peter,

I hope you do try it. If you like wild rice, this is a very good recipe.

Kalyn,

You've had some great wild rice recipes. I remember some of them very well. :)

Julie,

Yes, I've seen those recipes that call for huge amounts of cream. I can see that for ice cream--but not soup! :):)

[breadchick]

Yup,one of my favourite soups of all time. And this recipe sounds super simple and easy to do.

[Jenna]

Looks amazing, and now I do believe I have what I'm making for dinner on Friday covered. My knife skills are no where near yours, but I do agree that hand chopped gives a better mouth feel for some foods. Guess I'll keep practicing.

Only change I will end up making is subbing evaporated milk for the cream... don't care so much about the calories, I'm just trying to avoid grocery shopping for the next week or so and I have found that the evaporated stuff will work in a pinch. Thanks for another great dinner plan.

[Kirsten]

Great recipe! I'm a native MNer and moved to Utah where wild rice does not exist! Fortunately I have friends in Minnesota that will send me rice all the time. I just made the soup last night but didn't include the carrots (can't be bothered to chop them) the soup is my absolute favorite!

[Sues is not Martha]

The list of soups I NEED to make keeps getting longer and longer! This looks delicious :)

[Porter]

My girls love soup and I'm pretty certain this one will please them...so I'm makin it!I might do a meal plan for next week and link back here if you don't mind?

[Shannon]

I'm making this for dinner as I type this! I'm going to add some shredded leftover turkey to it, too. Thanks for yet another fab-oo recipe, Sher!

[gattina]

my very first taste of wild rice was fried wild rice many years back, totally loved the texture! I'm sure I'd go crazy for this soup. With parsley and (some) cream, can't do any better!

[Cindy]

I like wild rice soup, but somehow I just never made them myselves,
I always bought the can soups from the store,
After reading your recipe,
I think I should give it a try sometime!

[MyKitchenInHalfCups]

Wonderful looking soup (it's those impressive knife skills)! I might use buttermilk in this (I am a buttermilk lover). And since my knife skills aren't up to yours, I'd use my mandoline. It would be a different look but still uniform :)

[Teresa]

I love While You Were Sleeping! And this a great idea for a soup. I've had a package of wild rice in my cupboard since I got it in Minnesota last spring - saving it for a "special occasion," I guess. Since I'll be back in April, might as well use the rice now!

[Glenna]

That's really one of the prettiest soups I've seen in a long time. I really want to make it now.

[aria]

mmmmm, this looks wonderful. i have a container of windrice w/o any idea what to do wit it. so delicious looking now i have plan :)

[katie]

It's a staple on every 'salad bar in the state... And I love it! But I have to bring the rice back with me, which, of course, I do. if only I could completely eliminate the clothes....

[Porter]

I finally made the soup and it as amazing...but I'm laughing because when I found the link to the recipe and I saw your photo it was different from my soup....yikes! I forgot the milk, dry sherry, chives and parsley!!! funny. oh well, it was a huge hit with my parents, husband, and my two little girls. I will be making it again.

[Nick]

If you want to save yourselves a lot of time chopping vegetables, try our gourmet Wild Rice Shiitake dried soup mix. Made with the same Minnesota grown wild rice. All you need to add is water, of course you can always add a little sherry as well. If you want to find out more information on this and other Jager Foods gourmet soups please visit us at www.jagerfoods.com.

[Minnesotan]

Traditional wild rice soup made by the Dakota and Ojibway (Native peoples of our state) were rice, wild onions, and buffalo meat, cooked down until it was fatty. The rice is also often cooked once first and then again in order to get the starches to break down. The recipe you have is certainly the "Europeanized" version with the cream added in order to boost the caloric intake. This was because laborers and lumberers ate it to keep them through til dinner. I should note the early French trappers who adapted the soup gave it very French roots. The flour you note is actually the development of a rue (like in gumbo) and the aromatics round out the flavor (celery, carrots, etc). Today for our diet-wary tastes, you can just use skim milk to give it that filling white color typical of chowder. Really, the rue itself lends the hearty flavor, not the dairy.

[Alison]

Hi! I'd like to post a photo of this link on the blog Food2 with a link back here for the recipe and story. Would that be possible?
Thanks!
Alison
content manager, Food2.com

[sally northey]

love your recipe. Am making it now. I 1/2 precooked the wild rice in chicken broth. I just find that wild rice needs so much more time. Didn't have leeks, so added an onion,and a couple cloves of garlic. Will add white wine instead of sherry. Love the cut back on cream though, even though I have an abundance of it in my fridge...after Thanksgiving, you know. :) Lovely recipe. I'm sure we are going to enjoy it!

[Sally]

I have made this soup many times...this recipe. However, I make the rice beforehand, as the cooking time on the recipe is not enough. The rice would be very Al Dente, and not in a good way. I do like the addition of the leeks and chives, and yes...the cream. I am from MN, and grew up with wild rice soup, but I love the bones of this recipe. I add a bit of curry for a smoky taste. I just find it too bland without a kick of something. I also add a splash of white wine instead of sherry and sometimes some shredded chicken, or turkey.