The cool weather in northern Pennsylvania was a good excuse to revisit this wonderful, rich and hearty soup. There’s not much in the way of broth—at least when I prepare it—but if thick and chunky isn’t your style, you can easily change the consistency by adding more milk, cream, and roux. This recipe is easily one of my all-time favorite comfort foods.

5-7 pieces of thick cut bacon
2½ lbs chicken breast
1½ lbs chicken thigh, with skin and bone
2½ tsps salt + extra
fresh ground pepper
1 white onion, chopped
6-8 stalks of celery, chopped

½-? bag baby carrots, chopped into small rounds
1 box baby bella mushrooms, sliced
6 cloves garlic, finely diced
white wine
homemade chicken stock
1 pint cream
nonfat milk
less than a ½ cup all purpose flour
½ cup butter
fresh thyme, chopped
Italian parsley, chopped
2½ cups mix of wild rice and brown rice

1. Remove the skin from the thigh meat. Season the breasts and thighs with salt and pepper.
2. Apply a rough chop to the bacon and add to a pre-heated skillet on medium-high heat. Cook until the bacon is crisp and most of the fat is rendered out. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon to a plate lined with a paper towel.
3. Sear the chicken on both sides in the pan with the bacon fat. Then move the chicken to a stockpot.
4. In the same pan, sweat the onion, celery, and carrots with about 1 tsp salt and a little freshly ground black pepper. When done, add to the stockpot.
5. Pour in enough white wine to cover the bottom of the stockpot. Crush the crisp bacon pieces and toss into the mix. Then add chicken stock to bring up the liquid in the pot until the contents are just covered. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook for 1-1.5 hrs with the cover on the stockpot.
6. While the stockpot is simmering, begin a roux by melting ½ cup of butter in a sauce pan. When the butter is fully melted and hot, use a spoon to skim off the solids on the surface. Then quickly add a little less than a half cup of all purpose flour. Begin whisking immediately and continue until the roux reaches a white or blonde stage. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
7. Add wild rice mix and the mushrooms. If there is insufficient liquid for the wild rice to absorb, also add chicken stock. Simmer the contents of the stockpot, covered, for an additional 50 minutes or until the rice is fully cooked. During this time, you may want to check once or twice and make sure no additional chicken stock is necessary, but try to minimize the time the cover is off the stockpot as much as possible.
8. After the rice is cooked, remove the chicken from the stockpot and shred. The chicken should fall apart pretty easily. Put the shredded chicken back in the stockpot.
9. Add 2-4 cups of milk and/or cream; for a richer soup, add all of the cream and only as much nonfat milk as is needed to reach the desired consistency. For a lighter soup, add only part of the cream. Allow the contents of the pot to heat up again.
10. Add the herbs and any additional salt. I like to add 1½ tsps salt, mostly chopped thyme and only a little chopped italian parsley, but season your soups to taste.
11. Mix in as much roux as necessary to achieve the desired thickness. Immediately serve the soup with a few slices of crusty sourdough bread.