One Pot Chicken Rice Soup

I know this isn't a very Christmasy meal, but my husband and I both got a cold this week, so when my mother in law said she didn't have dinner plans, I offered to cook. When I looked up chicken rice soup recipes on Pinterest, they all had cooked chicken. Which is fine....if you have some leftover cooked chicken. But we didn't. And who wants to go through cooking the chicken separately, and the rice, and then adding it to the soup (when you're already sick and feeling like a soggy tissue)?

So I tried making it all in one pot.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 medium carrots, cut diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices

2 celery ribs, halved lengthwise, and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices

4 sprigs of fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

2 quarts water

1 cup brown rice

2 lb package of chicken (I used legs & thighs, but breasts would be fine, too).

1 bag frozen peas

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 

Instructions:

1. In a large pot, add water, chicken, and rice. Add more water if needed to make sure all the chicken is covered. Bring to a boil and cook about 20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, chop vegetables.
3. Add carrots, celery, onions, oil, garlic, bay leaf, and thyme
4. Cook another 20 minutes, until vegetables and rice are tender. Pull some of the chicken off the bones. It should come off pretty easily.
5. Add the frozen peas, salt & pepper to taste.

This turned out really well! I wasn't sure because all the recipes I found called for cooked chicken and cooked rice. But I wanted to make the whole thing in one pan. And it worked out really well. The rice thickened the broth so it was nice and thick and stew-like, and the rice was perfectly done at the same time as the chicken and veggies. I have never made chicken soup before (except chili verde), but I will definitely make it again. It was super easy and really tasty, and everyone liked it, even my picky son.

Creamed Chicken (with Peas)

This recipe was both simple and time consuming. We had some chicken to use up, so I looked through The Fannie Farmer Cookbook until I found a recipe that only used a little chicken. Vegetables were optional, so I used about a half cup of peas we had thawed the day before and hadn't used.

Creamed chicken:
2 tbsp. butter
3 tbsp. flour
1 1/2 c. cooked chicken (I only had 1 c. shredded, so that's what I used)
1 c. chicken broth
1/3 c. cream (I used whole milk)
salt and pepper


I actually used a double boiler, possibly for the first time ever. We've had one for years, but I usually just use it as a pan or for storing leftovers. So I thought I'd used it as it is supposed to be used.

Melt butter in double boiler.
Mix in flour until completely blended.
Gradually add chicken broth (or 1 c. milk) stirring constantly
Stir over low heat until thick.
Bring to boiling for 2 minutes.
Add cream, chicken, and salt and pepper to taste
Heat at least 1/2 hr in double boiler so chicken absorbs moisture and sauce.
If it gets too thick, add more liquid. I had to add more chicken broth and more milk.
Serve on biscuits, waffles, or rice.
Decorate with bacon, parsley, watercress, pimiento, or paprika.

Optional add-ins: mushrooms, peas, ham, celery, or hard-boiled egg (weird, right?)

I added peas into it. It tasted much like the inside of a chicken pot pie. The sauce was thick but not too thick, and it tasted very good. I served it with Parsley Rice (recipe tomorrow), so I didn't garnish the chicken with parsley. I sprinkled paprika over it, and it was pretty okay. My son, the picky eater, loved it and asked for more (instead of the parsley rice, which I thought he would love) even though it was not the most photogenic, beautiful food I've ever made.

Overall, this is an okay recipe that is a good way to use up leftover chicken, but I don't know that I would go out of my way to make it again. Maybe if I have some chicken on hand again, I'll try one of the other creamed chicken recipes Fannie Farmer offers.