Gluten Free Dinner with Joyce, Wild Rice Soup and Fruit Platter

I did not know that if you make chili using canned chili beans they have gluten in the chili bean sauce.  My friend Joyce knows these things as she is living the gluten free life.  She tells me that if she ingests things with gluten she immediately experiences burning inside her mouth!  So needless to say I wanted to be sure not to have anything at our informal and cozy dinner in front of the TV that could be a problem!  She also told me of a book she is reading called "GRAIN BRAIN" that discusses the modifications being made to our grain that may not be a good thing?

I elected to modify and adapt a recipe I had seen called Byerly's Wild Rice Soup from the Iowa Housewife blog.  Here is the link if you would like to see the original recipe.    iowasue.blogspot.com/2013/09/family-favorites-byerlys-wild-rice-soup.html

Ingredients for Chunky Wild Rice Soup:

1/2 C. wild rice cooked in stock and chilled per pkg. directions (can be done a day before)  =  about 1 and 1/2 C. cooked
1/2 C. brown rice cooked in stock  peer pkg. directions and chilled (I had frozen from previous recipe)= about 1 1/2 C. cooked
1 large diced onion
3 ribs celery diced
4 large carrots sliced
2 quarts good chicken or ham stock ( can use purchased or homemade fortify with soup base if needed)
1/4 C. sherry
1 pound small dice ham ( chicken or turkey would also be quite good)
1 pint heavy cream (could use half and half or evaporated milk)
salt and pepper to taste

Using a stock pot or soup kettle combine the stock, sherry, vegetables, and meat.  Simmer 20 minutes or so and add the cooked brown rice.  Simmer long enough for the soup to thicken to the degree you want remembering it will thin a bit when the cream is added.  Note, the recipe in it's original form used flour to thicken.  By using cooked brown rice and cooking longer this will thicken the soup instead!


About 2-3 minutes before serving time add the wild rice and cream stirring until it comes to a boil.  Serve steaming hot.  Yield about 8 servings.

Ingredients for Fruit Platter:

1 large nectarine sliced
1 purple plum sliced
5 Italian prune plums halved
1 pint strawberries
1/2 C. Marzetti French Vanilla Yogurt Dip

Wash fruit and assemble on a pretty platter with the dip.