I'm feeling comfort food.

I am still sick... I think at this point it is probably strep throat. I am dragging myself to the doctor tomorrow. I am hoping and praying that Zach does not get sick... although, if he does it is probably karma. The last time I heard "I think I have a fever... rub my head?" I ended up with a stomach virus that knocked me on my ass for two days. Pretty sure when Zach tried to come to my rescue at 3 a.m. with ginger tea I knew we were meant to be together.

So, yes, my throat is on fire. I haven't even touched my makeup in days (I actually brushed my hair today, though!). By last night I was wanting something warm and comforting. I decided to whip up a favorite of mine....

Chicken and wild rice soup with bacon! This stuff makes me hungry just thinking about it. Now, a few things you need to know about cooking in the South...

• We do not cook so that our meals look pretty. Have you ever seen egg gravy? It looks like something your cat threw up, but it is delicious.
• We enjoy our sodium. 
• We enjoy butter. 
• We do not measure anything. 

To back up my first point there, I am going to go ahead and say I am not a food photographer. I tried standing on a kitchen chair and getting an "artsy" view of my bowl... it just wasn't happening. I don't have any fancy bowls to present my food in that compliment the colors in my culinary creations. I can just say this... This soup is darn good. So, I am going to try to break this down into a recipe. I got the original recipe a long, long time ago on Pinterest... but I have changed it to suit me.

Ingredients:
3 cans of chicken broth
2 cups water 
1 cup uncooked wild rice (I was sick and forgot to measure/care how much rice I put in and put in an entire small bag of it. It was still great, but much too thick as you can see in the picture.)
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2 small can of mushrooms, drained (clearly fresh would work too...)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups half and half
1/2 cup butter
2 cups shredded or cubed cooked chicken
9 or so slices of cooked bacon, crumbled

In a large saucepan combine rice, water, and chicken broth. Add your onions and  mushrooms to the mixtures. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and keep covered for 30 or so minutes, or until rice is tender. It will absorb a lot of the water and broth, but some will be left over. Do not drain.

Begin to preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with tin foil and carefully place bacon onto the foil. Put in oven while still cold. Bake for 20 or so minutes, or until the outsides turn a crispy gold color. Baked bacon looks almost the same as fried bacon, so you'll know when it is done. You can also fry it if you desire.

While bacon is in the oven melt butter in a medium saucepan. Stir in flour and then slowly add half and half. Cook until slightly thickened, stirring constantly. Add this mixture to the rice along with bacon and chicken. Add salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning as desired. Heat on low for 15 to 20 minutes. If soup seems to thick add water until you get the desired consistency. 

This soup is one of those "day two" soups... meaning it tastes better the next day. That is just my opinion, anyways. I serve this soup with toasted french bread.

What are some of your favorite comfort foods?