Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Host a fuss-free Friendsgiving that features a comforting bowl of chicken soup, a few easy side dishes and a holiday sangria.

Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Friendsgiving, a meal that is shared with friends just before or after the national holiday, is a newer celebration, and I’m grateful for it. Menus can be simple or elaborate, and this year, I’m going to have a “bowl” with friends. (Bad pun, but a good soup recipe will make up for that!)

With Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup as the main dish, I will have time to enjoy the company of friends. I’ll also make a simple Cranberry Sangria that’s perfect for kicking off the holiday season; it’s also a self-serve cocktail. The rest of the menu will feature salad, warm rolls and dessert brought in by guests.

According to Merriam-Webster, the earliest use of Friendsgiving was around 2007. When the term was used in 2011 as part of an ad campaign for Bailey’s Irish Cream and later incorporated into a story of Real Housewives of New Jersey (“Gobblefellas” was the episode), our awareness of Friendsgiving took a big upswing.

I’m hosting Friendsgiving for my movie-watching group the weekend before Thanksgiving. It’s an opportunity to gather ahead of all the holiday hoopla. It seems like after Thanksgiving, we’re all off and running; sometimes the holidays slip by without getting to see some of the most important people in your life.

So, in addition to an easy menu, I’ve planned an simple holiday craft we can do after the meal. We’ll watch a holiday movie while enjoying dessert before calling it an evening.

The great thing about this soup is it can be made an hour or so ahead of my guests gathering. I’ll keep the soup warm in a slow cooker, which also makes for easy serving. And sangria gets better the longer it sits in the refrigerator.

Let’s get cooking. For Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup, you’ll need:

• 42 ounces reduced-sodium chicken broth (divided)

• 1 (6 ounce) package long grain and wild rice with seasoning packet

• 2 cups fresh broccoli florets

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves cut into ½-inch pieces

• 2 carrots, diced

• 2 celery ribs, diced

• 1 small onion, diced

• ¼ teaspoon dried sage

• 3 tablespoons flour

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 2 cups half-and-half

• fresh sage leaves (optional garnish)

Key ingredients to the soup are wild and long grain rice mixture, chicken breasts and broccoli cut and trimmed into small florets.

Start by setting aside ½ of chicken broth.

In a stock pot over medium-high heat, add olive oil, diced carrots, celery and onion. This is the mirepoix for your soup. I also peeled and diced some of the broccoli stalk for a flavor boost and added nutrition. When the onions start to turn translucent, add the dried sage and stir to coat the vegetables with herb. By toasting the sage this way, it’ll help bring out the flavors.

Add the cubed chicken breasts to the pot. When the chicken starts to turn white and you see some browning, add the remaining broth and the wild rice. Cover and bring this to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the broccoli florets and cook for about 15 minutes.

Stir flour into the reserved chicken broth. Add it to the soup, turn the heat up to medium-high again, and bring to a boil until the broth slightly thickens.

Reduce heat and add half-and-half, cooking until heated through (about 3 minutes).

This recipe will make 4 servings.

Can I use leftover turkey instead of chicken? Absolutely! If you’d doing your Friendsgiving after Thanksgiving, just cut up your turkey (about 1 pound) into ½-inch pieces. You'll probably want to add the cooked turkey at the last step to just heat it through.

Can I use frozen broccoli? Yes; use 1 (10-ounce) package of frozen chopped broccoli as a swap. You could also swap out one bag of frozen cut green beans for broccoli.

Can this soup be frozen. Wouldn't recommend it because there's cream in the soup. However, after the broccoli has cooked—maybe to al dente—you could cool the soup and freeze it at that point. After it thaws and you're ready to reheat the soup, finish the last steps to thicken and add the half-and-half at the end.

Another common component to a Friendsgiving is a cocktail (or two).

Every year, I usually buy a couple bottles of Missouri-made cranberry wine from St. James Winery. This wonderful sangria is made with oranges, pears, tart apples and fresh cranberries. When it’s time to serve, simply put the pitcher on your buffet or table with glasses and let your guests help themselves.

To make Cranberry Sangria, you’ll need:

• 1 bottle of cranberry wine

• 1 cup fresh cranberries

• 1 cup white cranberry juice

• 2 red apples (I like the Fuji apple for this)

• 2 green pears

• 2 navel oranges

• 2 rosemary sprigs

• 12 ounces non-alcoholic ginger beer

Rinse cranberries. Wash and dice the apples, oranges and pears. You could also dice the apples and pears and slice oranges—however you want the presentation to look. Layer the fruit—apples, oranges, pears and cranberries—laying rosemary sprigs on top.

Pour in wine and juice; allow at least 2 hours to chill in refrigerator. When ready to serve, add ginger beer and lightly stir. Optional garnish would be a couple of cranberries skewered on a rosemary sprig.

For guests who can’t drink, have an alternative on hand, such as sparkling apple cider.

Here’s the most important tip to Friendsgiving: Allow or invite your guests to bring a dish or drinks. But when your friend asks “What I can I bring,” don’t say “whatever you’d like.” That’s no help to either of you. Ask your friends to bring something specific, such as their favorite Thanksgiving pie for dessert, or an autumn salad.

Remember that being a good host doesn’t mean you have to do everything, but rather extending warm hospitality to everyone in your home. Be in the moment with your friends and family, which might be the most meaningful demonstration of gratitude we can give any time of the year.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Tart

This twist on a classic Thanksgiving dessert will be a delicious addition to your holiday menu.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Tart will delight your Thanksgiving guests.

My mother’s recipe box is a treasure. Just flipping through its cards while sipping a cup of coffee is a comforting activity for me. I’ll often find a recipe that trips a memory or makes me say something like, “well, look at that!”

Recently, I found a recipe card for “Pumpkin Tart.” It's not in either Mom’s or Grandma Bubba’s handwriting, so my guess is a friend shared the recipe with one of them. How typical of that era; now it seems like when we want to make a new dish, we ask Google and not a girlfriend.

Most years, Bubba baked pies for Thanksgiving: two pumpkin and one apple. As I learned to bake and cook, I’d occasionally contribute a pecan pie. But I remember we had Pumpkin Cheesecake Tart at least once, but it’s so delicious, it should have become a family tradition.

What I love about this Pumpkin Cheesecake Tart is despite the cheesecake filling, it’s surprisingly light, which is just what you want after a heavy Thanksgiving meal. The other selling point to this recipe is you can make it days ahead of Thanksgiving and keep it in your refrigerator. And it’s absolutely delicious, so let’s get cooking!

For this recipe you’ll need:

• Crust: 12 whole graham crackers

• 1/3 cup sugar

• 1/2 cup butter, melted

• Cheesecake: 2 eggs

• 3/4 cup sugar

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• Pumpkin topping: 2 cups pumpkin

• 3 egg yolks

• 1/2 cup milk

• 1/2 cup sugar (half of this is used in pumpkin, half added to egg whites)

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 2 teaspoons cinnamon

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

• 1 envelope plain gelatin

Pumpkin Cheesecake Tart is made in three easy stages. It starts with the outstanding graham cracker crust. The easiest way to crush the graham crackers is in a food processor, so I drug out Mom’s old Magic Chef appliance affectionately known as "The Beast." I think this thing might be able to crush bones, but since I only needed crushed crackers, it literally took a couple of seconds. I added the melted butter and sugar and gave it another whirl, then voila! It was ready to press into a 9-by-13-inch pan.

Cream cheese, eggs, sugar plus vanilla creamed together will be poured on top of the crust and baked for 20 minutes.

Next comes the cheesecake filling that will be poured over the crust and baked for 20 minutes at 350 degrees F. Using a hand mixer, I creamed together the eggs, sugar, vanilla and cream cheese. After the cheesecake is baked, allow it to cool at least 20 minutes before topping it with the pumpkin mixture, which was the most involved of all three steps.

Canned pumpkin is combined with egg yolks, milk, sugar and spices. This mixture is cooked until it thickens to be the base of a pumpkin mousse topping.

In a medium sauce pan, I stirred together the pumpkin, egg yolks, 1/4 cup of sugar, salt, milk, cinnamon and cloves. Mom’s recipe card only gave the vague instruction of “cook until thick,” but I wondered “how thick are they talking about?” So, I decided to cook the mixture over medium heat until it started to blip while stirring occasionally; in total, this took about 15 minutes, but the time may differ depending on your stove.

I transferred the mixture to a mixing bowl to cool. Meanwhile, I dissolved the packet of gelatin in a 1/2 cup of water and stirred this into the pumpkin mixture.

You'll beat egg whites into soft peaks before folding them into a cooled pumpkin mixture.

Next, I beat the egg whites using a mixer, gradually adding the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar. The fluffy egg whites were gently folded into the cooled pumpkin, and this now lightened-up pumpkin topping was poured over the cooled cheesecake. After smoothing the pumpkin evenly, the pan was placed into the refrigerator to chill and set up; I left it overnight, but you'll need to plan for at least five hours.

The end result is a divine autumn dessert with a pumpkin mousse top layer, an airy cheesecake middle, and a rich graham cracker crust that had the perfect chewy texture.

How long can you store this dessert? My daughter and I enjoyed this Pumpkin Cheesecake Tart for a week, and each bite was as good as the first. But honestly, if you’re making this for a Thanksgiving gathering, there likely will not be any leftovers!

Can I use a traditional pie crust instead of graham crackers? I think it could detract from the finished dessert if a pastry crust was used, but if it’s necessary you could try this swap that bakes in a springform pan. If someone has a gluten allergy, I’d suggest trying gluten-free graham crackers to use when making the crust.

For additional Thanksgiving ideas, check out:

Jalapeno and Cheddar Cornbread Dressing

Easy Fried Corn

Fresh Cranberry Relish

Spiced Cranberry Poached Apples

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St. Louis Beer and Provel Cheese Dip

Two St. Louis classics come together in an easy dip to enjoy while watching your favorite sports team.

Budweiser and Provel cheese, two St. Louis classics, are the star ingredients to St. Louis Beer and Provel Cheese Dip

During the time when my granddad Larry was a young man, St. Louis was known for being “first in shoes, booze and last in the American League.” It’s certainly true that Brown Shoe Company (1875–2015), which now is Caleres, and the St. Louis Browns (now the Baltimore Orioles) helped to shape St. Louis history, as did the nearly 40 breweries that operated prior to Prohibition.

In the 1930s, St. Louis-style pizza created by Amedeo Fiore added to the city’s food story. In the mid-1960s, Ed and Margie Imo opened their pizzeria with pies that not only featured cracker-thin crusts but the weird cheese blend known as Provel. This processed cheese—a mixture of white cheddar, Swiss and provolone with a touch of smoky flavoring—sparks heated debates between pizza lovers, but the fact is it melts beautifully, which is exactly what the Imo family wanted.

So, I ask you: What could be more “St. Louis” than a dip made with your favorite beer and Provel cheese? I agree, which is why it’s one of the recipes included in my new book, A Culinary History of Missouri: Foodways & Iconic Dishes of the Show-Me State.”

Serve St. Louis Beer and Provel Cheese Dip with soft pretzel bites for a perfect appetizer to share with friends while watching your favorite sports team. Bring it to book club or game night; honestly, who doesn’t want a good cheese dip?

Finding packs of the weird ropes of Provel can be hard if you don't live in St. Louis, so to the cooks who don't live in the area, I’ve got your back with this swap; shred five ounces each of white cheddar, Swiss and mozzarella or provolone. Add a teaspoon of Worcestershire to the pan while melting the cheese and you’re good to go. Let’s start cooking!

For this recipe you will need:

• 2 tablespoons butter

• 16 ounces Imo’s brand Provel cheese (or see the swap out above)

• ¼ cup of Budweiser or your favorite lager-style beer

• ¼ cup milk

• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

• ½ teaspoon onion powder

• ½ teaspoon garlic powder

• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Ropes of Provel, milk, beer, butter plus spices are used in St. Louis Beer and Provel Cheese Dip.

The original recipe included in the book called for Budweiser as an ingredient, but like my granddad, I’m not a fan of Bud, so I used Schlafly’s White Lager. Schlafly based in St. Louis, was one of Missouri’s early locally owned craft brewers and over the years has grown to include multiple locations and a varied line of beer, cider and spritzers. Almost any lager-style beer will work (with exception of bocks). I’d recommend staying away from heavier brews like the stouts, fall/winter ales and even the IPAs.

Melt the butter in a medium sauce pan, then add liquids, mustard, onion and garlic powders, and pepper. Mix together, and gradually add the cheese. Keep stirring with a spatula, being sure to scrap the bottom of the pan so nothing sticks. I noticed the ¼ cup of beer was a little light for the gooey Provel, so added a few additional tablespoons to loosen up the mixture and help the cheese to melt into a smooth consistency.

To keep that consistency, I recommend transferring the melted cheese mixture into a mini slow cooker treated with non-stick spray. Keep the cooker on a "warm" setting. Otherwise, the cheese when it cools down can get gummy. Serve with soft or hard pretzels.

If you have leftover cheese dip, don't freeze it. If you don't need to serve eight people, just cut the ingredient amounts in half. I'm going to try using my leftovers in other recipes, so I'll let you know how that turned out!

In Food in Missouri: A Cultural Stew, Madeline Matson writes, “The brewing of Missouri beer began in the early 19th century. St. Louis was naturally suited for brewing. It had miles of underground caves where beer could be stored. And it had plenty of river water.”

One of the things that struck me while researching the Culinary History of Missouri book was how the state’s many breweries had to pivot when hit with Prohibition after 1920. Some breweries, including the Lemp Brewery in St. Louis, were forced out of business, while others quickly shifted into making other products. For example, Falstaff Corporation (formerly Griesedieck Beverage) made a near beer and IBC root beer. Anheuser-Busch (now under the global AB InBev umbrella) made “Bevo” near beer and baker’s yeast. I saw similar creativity from our bars and restaurants what were shuttered for a time during the height of COVID pandemic. It fostered a new respect for these businesses, many of which still are struggling.

Today, the brewing culture is strong in the Show-Me State, thanks to the craft beer movement that began in the 1980s here. According to the Missouri Craft Brewers Guild, the state is home to more than 150 craft breweries with an economic impact of $1.2 billion.

Because this Wednesday (Oct. 27, 2021) is #AmericanBeerDay, it's appropriate we raise a glass to toast the men and women who work bringing us our favorite brews. You all are skilled craftspeople; thank you for your work.

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Want some other game day appetizer ideas?

Easy Eggplant Parm Dip is a winner

You’ll score with Pull Apart Piggies

Slow Cooker Brisket Sliders will feed your crowd