Curry Wild Rice Soup

To the recipe that started it all! When I first made this recipe a couple of months ago, it got me thinking about keeping track of new recipes and changes that I would have made to them, hence this blog. Anywho, back to the recipe. This is another allrecipes.com special, best served with fresh homemade bread. It's great for dipping!

Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked wild rice
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 1/2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 6 cups vegetable broth
• 2 cups half-and-half
• 2/3 cup dry sherry
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon dried chervil
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

Directions

1. In a saucepan bring water to a boil. Add rice and stir. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until tender, about 40 minutes.
2. Heat butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Saute onion until golden brown; add mushrooms and celery. Cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
3. Reduce heat to low; stir in flour and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is bubbly. Gradually add broth; increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Boil, stirring, for 1 minute.
4. Reduce heat to low and add cooked rice, half and half, sherry, salt, white pepper, curry powder, dry mustard, paprika and chervil. Simmer until heated through. Serve hot and garnish with parsley.

Changes: Well, as previously stated, I hate mushrooms, so left them out. I also don't have sherry, parsley, or chervil on hand and no desire to buy them. But other than that... ;P I started out with 2 boxes of Rice Roni Long Grain and Wild Rice mix, and cook as directed on the box. I diced both the celery and onion, and increased both by about half of what was called for to compensate for the lack of mushrooms. As per one of the reviews, I used chicken broth instead of vegetable broth - not sure whether it makes it better or not as I've never used the vegetable stock, but I think it's good. Once I got to the spice adding portion, things get fun! :) Last time I made it, it wasn't strong enough with curry for me, so I doubled the curry (and then added a smidgen more for good measure) and also doubled the salt. everything else I kept as called for. It turned out AWESOME! It's almost better the second day after it's had a chance to thicken, or if you have some time before serving you can let it sit for like 10 minutes or so. The thing that surprised me about this recipe is how long it takes to make! It says 55 minutes, and it really does take about that long! Definitely worth it though - it'll be a great soup for cold winter days!