William's Soup

Hello everyone!

Happy Fall

It has been a wild few months of adjustment around here.  William started kindergarten, Matilda started day care, and I started law school!  Go team.  Please forgive my lack of emailing, well...anything.  But here we are.  Bear with me.

What's new around the store? All the best things, of course.  Since we finally have lovely, drizzly, fall-like weather, we have adapted the store to your needs.  We brought back the Maple Dark Balsamic that contains pure Vermont Maple Syrup and, folks, this one is a gem.  I would pair it with the Blood Orange Fused Olive Oil and drizzle it over a salad with sliced apples or pears and walnuts.  It goes over  your fall vegetables of sweet potatoes, acorn squash, or Brussels sprouts. It is delicious over desserts like coffee cake, apple crisps, or pound cake.  This is the quintessential fall balsamic.  Give it a try.

We decided to bring a new White Balsamic into our midst.  For the first time, we are carrying the Pineapple White Balsamic!  This one was often requested, but I had my reservations.  Pineapples are delightful.  Pineapple Balsamic was questionable.  There was no need for my skepticism, in the end.  It's fantastic.  It is playful and sweet, but with the hint of sour from the balsamic.  It's probably our sweetest white balsamic, now outranking the Blenheim Apricot.  I haven't played with it too much, since my focus has been on the Maple Balsamic, but I think it would be amazing in an Asian-inspired salad or a banh-mi-bowl.  Pair it with the Persian Lime or Baklouti Green Chili Olive Oils. 

For all of you olive lovers out there, I ordered a new kind this month.  Don't worry, I still have the Abuela-style, Green Chili Stuffed, and Red Chili kind, too! But this one is a Manzanilla olive stuffed with lemon peels.  It is your one stop martini shop.  It would probably also do wonders to this braised chicken with lemon and olives recipe. 

Just a reminder, our fall and winter Saturday hours are 10:00-3:00, except around the holidays.  I'll let you know when our holiday hours kick in, but for now, we open at 10.  Last, but not least, our Sale Oil for the month is Wild Rosemary.  It seems an appropriate oil to have on hand this time of year.  I use it in my pot roast, a variety of soups (including the recipe below), and focaccia, just to give you a few ideas.  Enjoy 20% off your purchase of a Rosemary Olive Oil! 

Happy William

Now, on to this soup.  I'm naming this "William's Soup" because my picky-eater of a son ate three bowls of this.  Three.  And asked me to make it again the next week.  And told me it was the best soup he's ever eaten.  I could go on.  This is an incredibly easy dish to make, especially if you have an Instant Pot.  (Disclaimer: I have only made this version in the Instant Pot.  But I am certain that it would come out well either in a Slow Cooker or the old-fashioned way, on the stove-top.)  You basically throw everything in (except for the butter, flour, milk mixture that will be added at the end), walk away to enjoy your evening, come back into the kitchen, and dinner is ready!  Sorcery.  This is also a really good way to use your Black Truffle Oil that you bought once and then couldn't remember what to do with it.  You use it as a finisher for soups like this. 

Happy Wild Rice

Some advice about this soup: don't use brown rice/wild rice blend.  You want plain old Wild Rice.  You can buy it at the Co-op or Whole Foods, for sure.  It's a little pricy, but you only use 1 cup for an enormous pot of soup, so it should last you a while. Just promise me you won't use brown rice.  It's not the same.  If you wanted to make this a vegetarian soup, you absolutely can.  Use a pound or so of sliced mushrooms and vegetable broth and you're good to go.  I have made it both ways, and you can't go wrong. 

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup aka "William's Soup"
Adapted, only slightly from Pinch of Yum

Instant Pot - Slow Cooker - Dutch Oven

1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 Tbsp. Rosemary or Garlic or Mushroom & Sage Olive Oil
5 carrots, peeled and chopped
5 celery stalks, chopped
1 onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1 c. wild rice (NOT brown rice blend)
4 c. chicken stock
1 bay leaf
Pinches of rosemary and thyme
Salt and pepper to taste

6 Tbsp. butter
1/2 c. flour
1 c. milk
1/2 c. heavy cream
(or just use 1 1/2 c. milk)

Drizzle of Truffle Oil to finish.  Not a requirement, but definitely worth it.

Happy Soup

If using the Instant Pot:

1. Put everything in the first set of ingredients in that wondrous pot and close the lid. Cook for 45 minutes (manual, high pressure).  Release the steam manually.

2.  While steam is releasing slowly, in a separate pot on the stove top, melt butter over medium low heat.  Stir in flour and whisk until smooth and bubbling.  Slowly add in milk/cream, stirring until smooth.

3.  Once the steam is released, shred the chicken using two forks, smash up the garlic, and remove the bay leaf.  Add the butter/flour/milk mixture and give it a good stir.  Check for seasonings and add a healthy drizzle of truffle oil.  Enjoy!

If using a slow cooker:

All of the above, except set it on low for 8 hours, or high for 4 hours.  I haven't tried this method, but I'm positive it would be delicious.

Old Fashioned way:

All of the above, except I would first heat the oil and give the chicken a good sear.  Now add in everything from the first list, and cook on low around 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

I hope you enjoy it!

Cheers,
Andrea