Jeanette - Off The Cuff

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Blogger at: http://offthecuffhome.blogspot.com and http://offthecuffcooking.blogspot.com -- My name is Jeanette, and I was born in Sweden, but unlike the famous Muppet, I am not a professional Swedish Chef. I actually studied design and photography. I also was a freelance indie-rock critic for several magazines from 1998-2005, and had an in-house PR company for a while. Cooking is in my DNA--my dad's brother was a chef and their father was a pastry chef, my mom's mother was a caterer, who published a cookbook of traditional Finnish breads and pastries when she was 92. Everyone else in my family loves to cook, and we're not afraid to experiment. I have a yen for interior design and remodeling.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Chicken, Bell Pepper & Mushroom soup with rice

Mushroom-bell pepper-chicken soup

I have been blogging three mushroom-based recipes that I made the last few days with a CostCo container of Baby Bellas. I like buying in bulk and finding fun things to do with the ingredients during the course of a week, without feeling like I’m eating the same thing over and over.


This soup is completely ‘off the cuff’, and I will do my best to replicate the ingredients as I was just kind of throwing them in to my pot.



INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 lbs of chicken, cubed into bite-size pieces & sautéed with a little olive oil
1 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 onion finely diced
8-10 Baby Bella mushrooms, sliced
3/4 cup brown jasmine rice (or other rice)
6-10 cups water or chicken broth (if broth, omit the bouillon below)
3-4 tbsp Better Than Bouillon Chicken Base (taste broth to make sure it’s salty & well-rounded enough… add more base if needed)
1/2 tsp Thyme
2 tsp Marjoram
2 cloves minced garlic
2 bay leaves (discard prior to eating soup)
1 tbsp Sour Cream per soup bowl

DIRECTIONS:
 Mushroom-bell pepper-chicken soup (1) Mushroom-bell pepper-chicken soup (3) Mushroom-bell pepper-chicken soup (2) Mushroom-bell pepper-chicken soup (4)
Sauté onions in the bottom of a large soup-pot, and toss in the rice with the onions & olive oil, as though you’re making a risotto.  Let the rice absorb some oil, & heat up, before adding in mushrooms and bell peppers to sauté. The moisture released from the cooking vegetables will start to absorb somewhat into the rice.  Then pour in water and chicken-base, or chicken broth, herbs, and chicken.  Let simmer until rice is totally cooked through, adding water if needed.  Stir in one spoonful of sour cream for each bowl before serving.  The sour cream really takes everything up a notch, and in my humble opinion, is indispensable.
 

3 comments:

  1. love how you start this like a risotto to get all that toasty tasty sauteed goodness into the ingredients!

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  2. That looks delicious. Please come to Ca asap and cook for me my lovely friend!

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  3. Thanks Desi & Molly. This soup was really, really good. I love when a good flavor-combo just happens, and it was quite easy. Try making it at home, Desi, and let me know how it turns out.

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