David loves this soup.
5 Tablespoons butter, divided
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 cup hopped carrots (about 2 medium)
2 cups roughly chopped portabella or baby bella mushrooms (don't always have this)
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning (don't typically have, I used chicken flavor base)
1 (12 oz) jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
8 cups chicken broth or 8 cups water plus 2 Tablespoons and 2 teaspoons chicken base
1 cup wild rice
2 (6 oz) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cubed (can also use leftover rotisserie chicken--and honestly I like mixing dark meat with breast meat)
1/2 teasopoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (I usually don't add because Kim doesn't like pepper, add at table)
1/2 cup flour
2 cups milk
1. Melt 1 Tablespoon butter in large stockpot over medium heat. Add oonion, garlic, carrots, mushrooms, celery, and poultry seasoning and satue until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add artichoke hearts and chicken broth and bring to a boil over high heat. Add rice and chicken, reduce heat, cover and simmer 50-60 minutes or until rice is tender. When rice is tender, remove from heat and add salt and pepper. (I find that it takes even longer than 50-60 min to fully cook the wild rice, so pre-cook it or buy it pre-cooked at Trader Joe's. I found it's hard to find enough just plain wild rice so I bought it in bulk, can cook a batch up and freeze some for future use.)
2. When the soup has about 10 minutes left, melt remaining 4 Tablespoons butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk in four to make a roux. Slowly add milk, about 1/2 cup at a time, whisking constantly to remove lumps, until smooth and thickened to the consistency of thin pudding. Slowly whisk milk mixture into the soup and stir until combined. Simmer 4-5 minutes, until slightly thickened. (I usually use powdered milk in cooking.)
Note: sometimes add additional cooked rice by putting warm rice in the bowl and addition the soup. I seem to recall we cooked additional rice in it one time and the rice cooked up too much, kind of like when rice becomes rice pudding, so don't recommend addition it to the soup while cooking.
This recipe is from "Savoring the Seasons with Our Best Bites" by Sara Wells & Kate Jones