Family Favorites - Byerly's Wild Rice Soup

There is a great grocery chain in Minneapolis that has very nice dining rooms. This is probably their most popular menu item. Every time we visit there, we make a point of eating wild rice soup at a Byerly’s.  They use ham in their recipe, we like it better with canned chicken or turkey.  I often cook the rice a day ahead, or even cook a larger batch and freeze the extra to use next time; it freezes very well.
Byerly's Wild Rice Soup
1/2 cup Wild Rice -- uncooked
4 tablespoons Onion -- minced
4 tablespoons Celery -- finely chopped
1/2 cup Carrots -- very thinly sliced
3 cups Chicken Broth -- (homemade or made with water and chicken base)
2 tablespoons Sherry
2 Cups ham, chopped OR
1 Pint Canned Chicken or Turkey-- or 12 ounces purchased or 2 cups cooked
1 cup Heavy Cream -- or half and half
4 tablespoons Flour, All-purpose

• Cook wild rice in 1 cup of water or broth for 40-50 minutes; drain well. (I often do this during dinnertime the day ahead and refrigerate.)

• In a saucepan, combine broth, sherry, vegetables and chicken; simmer about 15 minutes. Add rice. Combine flour and cream, add to saucepan and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil; boil and stir 1 minute more until thickened.

Cost 2010: $4.56 or $1.14 per serving
Yield: "1 1/2 quarts" About 4 servings.
Per Serving: 491 Calories; 30g Fat (55.6% calories from fat); 27g Protein; 27g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 132mg Cholesterol; 1017mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 1/2 Grain(Starch); 3 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 4 1/2 Fat.