Simple Comforts

(originally posted - 01/06/2012)

Comfort Food:  noun - : food prepared in a traditional style having a usually nostalgic or sentimental appeal  (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary)

Food has an amazing capacity to stimulate all our senses.  It can bring about memories and feelings, not only giving sustenance to the body but also to the individual.  It's the grilled cheese and tomato soup on a cold autumn afternoon, or chocolate chip pancakes for dinner, or even the spaghetti sauce your mother used to make.  It's one of the few things in the world that has relativity to all of us.
One of the few things that can bring us the most pleasure.  So as I have been battling the cold on and off for the last few weeks, I hunkered down at home and made soup.  Now this recipe is not something passed down generation to generation in my family,  and there are no secret ingredients.  It is truly a culmination of my culinary influences from both my parents, my father's chicken and wild rice casserole, and my mothers knack for putting nourishing vegetables and hearty flavors into everything she made.  Cooking is truly the oldest form of medicine/magic.

For this recipe where I have laid out my steps and ingredients but I encourage you to take it and add/omit whatever you choose.  This dish is made from simple means and ingredients that are very easy to acquire, but the most important step is to respect the process and the work you put into it, and enjoy each bite!

Chicken And Rice Soup: Prep Time: 45 min Cook Time:1.5hrs

Ingredients:

-Soup-
1 small whole chicken (4-5 lbs)
2 cups wild rice
2 stalks of celery (sliced into 1/4" pieces)
1 bunch of Belgian endives (minced)
2 cloves of garlic (grated/pressed)
1 large yellow onion (halved: set one half aside and chop the remainder)
3 large carrots (sliced)
2 cans low sodium chicken broth
2 1/2 tbsp Salt
2 tbsp soup base or bouillon cubes
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne/ground mustard/curry (optional: a good decongestant)

-Cheese Balls-
5 cups vegetable/frying oil
8 ounces of finely shredded cheddar
1 tbsp fresh finely ground peppercorn
2 tbsp all purpose flour
1 cup all purpose flour for dredging
2 tbsp bread crumbs
2 egg whites

Preparation:

1. Start off with a large stockpot preferable about 8 Qts, and fill about halfway with water.  Bring to a boil.
2. Mix all ingredients for cheese balls together in a large mixing bowl.
3. Once combined form small 1" balls from the dough and refrigerate for 30 min.
4. Prep vegetables and set aside.
5. Clean chicken and par-boil in the stockpot.  (recommend leaving the skin on) -
6. Once the chicken has completely cooked through remove it from the water and begin to remove the skin and break down meat from the breast/thighs/wings and backside.  This step should go rather smoothly, just be sure to remove any excess of cartilage.
7. Pour 2 Cups of rice into the boiling water and reduce to medium heat. (Cook for about ten minutes)
8. Add in onion, celery, carrots, soup base, and spices, stirring thoroughly as each is added.
9. Add chicken, garlic, and endives.
10. Cook until rice is tender and the larger vegetables are soft, but not mushy.
11. Using a  saute pan, heat vegetable oil on high heat(I recommend using a splatter screen).
12. Once oil is heated dredge chilled cheese balls in flour and place them into the pan.
13. As the cheese balls cook roll them around for even browning.
14. When the cheese balls have turned a golden brown, us a skimming/slotted spoon to remove them from the pan and place on paper towels for the excess oil to drain.
15. Serve soup with cheese balls on the side.  They can also be dropped into the bowls of soup.

Enjoy!