Here's what I made this past weekend with the wild rice
Barb brought from Minnesota. I've made this recipe many
times with regular wild rice but it's really awesome with
the real deal stuff. I've added notes about how I've done
it a little differently from the recipes.
Kate

CORN AND WILD RICE SOUP WITH SMOKED SAUSAGE

12 1/2 cups (or more) canned chicken broth
1 1/4 cups wild rice (about 7 1/2 ounces)
6 1/4 cups frozen corn kernels (about 2 1/2 pounds) thawed
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
10 ounces fully cooked smoked sausage (such as kielbasa),
cut into 1/2" cubes
3 carrots, peeled, diced
2 medium onions, chopped
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
chopped fresh chives or parsley

Bring 5 cups broth to simmer in heavy medium saucepan
over medium heat. Add wild rice and simmer until all
liquid evaporates and rice is almost tender, stirring
occasionally, about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, blend 3¾
cups corn and 1½ cups chicken broth in processor until
thick, almost smooth puree forms. Heat vegetable oil
in heavy large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add
sausage and saute; until beginning to brown, about 5
minutes. Add carrots and onions and stir 3 minutes.
Add remaining 6 cups chicken broth and bring soup to
simmer. Reduce heat to low and simmer soup 15 minutes.
Add cooked wild rice, corn puree, and remaining 2½ cups
corn kernels to soup. Cook until wild rice is very
tender and flavors blend, about 15 minutes longer.
Mix in half and half. Thin soup with more chicken
broth, if desired. Season soup to taste with salt
and pepper. (Soup can be prepared 2 days ahead.
Refrigerate until cold; cover and keep refrigerated.
Rewarm soup over medium-low heat before continuing.)
Ladle soup into bowls. Garnish with chives and parsley
and serve. Makes 12 servings. (Three classic
heartland ingredients - corn, smoked sausage, a
nd wild rice - combine to give this appealing first-
course soup its sweet-spicy flavor and interesting
texture.)

Notes (11/15/04): I used 4 cans Campbell's chicken
broth diluted a little more than 1:1 to make 12 cups
liquid. Rather than cook the rice in only 5 cups of
liquid as directed I just put the rice in the total
amount of broth and cooked it until almost done. I
used the "wild" wild rice Barb brought me from Minnesota.
It only needed about 20 minutes. Then I added 2 cans
of corns, juice and all, and I pureed 2 more cans in
the blender with their juice and then added that. I
used heavy cream instead of half-and-half. I browned
the kielbasa in a little bacon fat. Then I removed if
from the skillet and browned the onion and then added
both to the soup. I then brought the soup back to a
simmer and simmered another 10 minutes. I left out
the carrots. This soup filled my large dutch oven
almost to overflowing. It needs a little more seasoning
so I'm going to add black pepper when I eat it. The
rice came out just right - very al dente - tender but
still a little chewy.

CORN BISCUITS WITH BACON AND SAGE

8 slices bacon
2 c. flour
1 c. cornmeal
3 T. sugar
5 t. baking powder
1 1/4 t. salt
1/2 c. + 2 T. chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 lg. eggs
6 T. buttermilk
1 3/4 t. packed dried rubbed sage
1 c. corn kernels (canned, drained or frozen, thawed
and drained)
1 egg, beaten (for glaze)
freshly ground black pepper (optional)

Preheat oven to 375F. Butter heavy large baking sheet.
Cook bacon until brown and crisp, about 8 minutes.
Drain on paper towels. Crumble bacon into small pieces.
Reserve 2 T. bacon drippings for biscuits. Mix flour,
cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt in large bowl.
Add butter and rub in with fingertips until mixture
resembles coarse meal. Whisk 2 eggs, buttermilk, sage,
and bacon drippings together. Add to flour mixture and
stir until moist dough forms. Mix in corn and bacon.
Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead gently
until smooth, about 8 turns. Roll out to 8"x10" rectangle
(about 3/4" thick). Cut into 12 squares. Place on baking
sheet and brush with egg glaze. Sprinkle lightly with
pepper, if desired. Bake until golden and tester inserted
in center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Transfer to
rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Notes (11/15/04): Left out the salt as last time I made
these they were too salty. Don't really need it with all
that baking powder, plus I used salted butter, and then
there's all that bacon in it. I used thick-sliced bacon
so there was about twice as much as if I had used regular
bacon. But more bacon is always better. I also left out
the bacon grease. It has plenty of butter so it's probably
overkill to add the bacon grease. They came out perfect
and don't even need to be buttered.

--
Kate Connally
“If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead already.”
Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that smiles back,
Until you bite their heads off.”
What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all about?

Kate Connally > wrote in :

> Here's what I made this past weekend with the wild rice
> Barb brought from Minnesota. I've made this recipe many
> times with regular wild rice but it's really awesome with
> the real deal stuff. I've added notes about how I've done
> it a little differently from the recipes.
> Kate
>
> CORN AND WILD RICE SOUP WITH SMOKED SAUSAGE
>
> CORN BISCUITS WITH BACON AND SAGE
>

Kate, both these recipes sound fabulous!

--
Wayne in Phoenix

*If there's a nit to pick, some nitwit will pick it.
*A mind is a terrible thing to lose.

Kate Connally > wrote in :

> Here's what I made this past weekend with the wild rice
> Barb brought from Minnesota. I've made this recipe many
> times with regular wild rice but it's really awesome with
> the real deal stuff. I've added notes about how I've done
> it a little differently from the recipes.
> Kate
>
> CORN AND WILD RICE SOUP WITH SMOKED SAUSAGE
>
> CORN BISCUITS WITH BACON AND SAGE
>

Kate, both these recipes sound fabulous!

--
Wayne in Phoenix

*If there's a nit to pick, some nitwit will pick it.
*A mind is a terrible thing to lose.