Hearty Chicken and Rice Soup
Pastor Byron
5 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup rice
1/2 large onion, diced
1/2 teaspoon of minced garlic (or 1 clove of garlic, minced)
3 strips of bacon (or use the equivalent in Real Bacon Bits, will need to add 2 tbs bacon grease if using this option)
2 Tablespoon butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups heavy whipping cream (or half and half)
2 cups cubed, cooked chicken
1/2 teaspoon sage
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
This recipe requires two pots. In the first (and smaller) pot, heat the broth and the rice. Bring to a gentle simmer and ignore until needed. While the rice continues to simmer, cook 3 slices of bacon over medium low heat. When the bacon is done remove it from the pan, crumble it, and set aside. <--as an alternative you can use Real Bacon Bits instead of cooking bacon, however, you will need to add 2 tbs of bacon grease to the butter in the next step --> Reduce the heat to low and add the butter to the pan. As soon as the butter has melted add the onion and cook until soft, then add the garlic. There will be brown bits on the bottom of the pan which will add lots of flavor. Add the flour and whisk until it all comes together into a paste. It’s not going to be perfectly smooth due to the onions, just make sure that it has been stirred until no more white flour shows. Very slowly stir in the heavy whipping cream (or half and half); keep stirring and adding milk after the previous splash has been incorporated into your mix. Once both cups of the half and half have been added, your mixture should look and feel like a very thick soup. Slowly add the chicken broth and rice to your soup. Don’t add it all at once, pour some, stir some, just like when you added the half and half. Once all of the broth has been added, turn the heat up to medium low and add the chicken, bacon crumbles, sage, thyme, salt, and pepper. Heat through and serve.
