I made a pot of this today to share between two most worthy recipients; Brittany’s family who all have Covid (even Baby Sofia!), and beloved Uncle Stan who is recovering from a massive dental surgery and is on a “no-chew” diet for the foreseeable future. Wow. The Covid family is feeling almost fine; just bored by quarantine. The boys dyed their hair green yesterday.
On to the recipe, which is a good one! If you google Chicken with Rice soup, this is the first one that comes up; which is saying something. Nagi runs the food blog Tin Eats, and lives in the northern beach area of Sydney Australia. She claims an unhealthy obsession with food and her dog Dozer; an abnormally large and very cheeky golden retriever.
This broth is particularly savory due to making it with bone-in chicken thighs, which create more flavor than breasts or rotisserie chicken (although you could use both in a pinch.) You begin with the classic sauté of onions and garlic, adding celery and carrots and some chicken bouillon cubes. Then the thighs simmer away until done, are removed and shredded and added back in with rice. The trick I learned here is separating the cooked rice from the soup when storing it overnight to keep it from absorbing all the liquid and turning to mush. Great idea!
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. butter (or more oil)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 onion, chopped
3 carrots, halved then cut into 2/5″ slices (quarter if really thick)
3 celery ribs, cut into 2/5″ slices
2 vegetable or chicken bouillon cubes
1/2 tsp. dried parsley
1/2 tsp. dried thyme, optional
1/4 tsp. black pepper
4 cups chicken broth (low sodium)
4 cups water
1.2 pounds bone in chicken thighs, skins removed
1 cup long grain white rice, uncooked (can use less)
Salt, adjust to taste
1 Tbs. finely chopped parsley
Place oil and butter in a large pot over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic, cook for 5 minutes until onion is translucent. Add carrots and celery, stir for one minute. Add bouillon cubes, dried parsley, thyme (if using), pepper, chicken broth, water. Stir, then add chicken.
Cover with lid, simmer on medium low for 30 minutes. Adjust heat so it’s bubbling a nice amount. Skim off excess foam buildup once or twice (not critical, just makes broth clearer.)
Remove lid, add rice.. Stir, cover, simmer 15 minutes. Remove soup from the stove. Remove chicken into large bowl. Shred with two forks, discard bones then stir into soup. Stir in half the parsley, taste for salt. Garnish with extra parsley. Serves 5.
Note: Because I was delivering this and not knowing when it would be eaten, I didn’t cook the rice in the soup. I gave each a bag of Trader Joe’s frozen white rice that cooks in the microwave in 3 minutes. They will put some cooked rice in each bowl and add the hot soup. To give the soup more of a yellow color you could add some tumeric, which I did after reading the comments. Also, some lemon zest and juice adds freshness if you wish.
{ 0 comments… add one now }