Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup

Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup

I saw Slumdog Millionaire this weekend.  Everyone should see this movie.  I would love to see it sweep the academy awards.

However, two days after seeing it, my thoughts are a little too raw to be coherent so instead of talking about this film, I am giving you a recipe for a soup to make.  If you go and see this film, you will be very glad you have a pot of this soup waiting for you when you come home.  Warm, comforting and creamy with flavors as rich and beautiful as the scenes that will be replaying in your mind and heart.

Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup

adapted from Crescent Dragonwagon’s Soup and Bread

about 6 servings

4  cups (1 32 oz box) mushroom stock

2 cups white wine

1 cup wild rice

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

1 large onion, diced

1 pound shitake mushrooms (you can use half regular mushrooms to make this recipe a little less expensive to make, but the flavor of the shitakes is so wonderful in this soup that i really love to treat myself to the entire pound if i can.)

1/4 cup flour

1 cup cream

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

a few gratings of fresh nutmeg

salt and pepper to taste

Bring stock and wine to boil in a pot.  Stir in wild rice.  Simmer covered until rice begins to split (about 45 minutes).

Heat olive oil and butter in large Dutch oven (if you don’t have a dutch oven, you can do this part in a large cast iron skillet and add it to the stock and wine instead of the other way around).

Saute onion in olive oil and butter about five minutes.  Add mushrooms for 10 more minutes, stirring frequently.

When mushrooms and onions are done, sprinkle the flour over the mixture and then gradually add the cream.  Add salt, pepper, thyme and nutmeg.

Pour stock, wine and rice mixture into Dutch oven.  Stir and simmer for about 20 minutes.  Serve immediately.