Chris’s Magical Chicken & Rice Soup

This past Tuesday was just like any other day; I took Ivan to school, went to work, picked him up and came home.  Somewhere on the ride home, however, I started to feel a little less than awesome.  My nose started to run, I could not stop sneezing and my head started to hurt a little.  By the time I woke up Wednesday morning I was officially “sick”.

Sometime after I sent angry text messages to friends that had recently had colds, Chris sent me a message asking me what I would like for dinner.  My appetite and my mood were both pretty lousy so I made the smart-aleck reply that I just wanted to get home and hook myself up to a “whiskey and chicken soup IV”. 

Fortunately for me, Chris did not take the IV part of my comment seriously but she did decide that chicken soup was a good idea and might be a healthy, medicinal dinner selection.  We went to the store straight from work and she got busy in the kitchen as soon as we got home.  I was not up for taking notes on the process so here is the recipe straight from the chef…

The ThisIsWhyBrettWritesInsteadOfCooks Gumbo: Saturday, September 24, 2011

On Friday, September 23^rd, Chris had an outpatient surgical procedure that required a weekend of rest, painkillers and quality care by a loving husband. As that loving husband, I was excited about the opportunity to make her feel as comfortable and happy as she does for me every day of my life. I wanted to make sure she had everything she wanted at her fingertips and even bought her a bell she could ring if she needed anything that was not in arms reach of her place on the couch.

 

I was so into my nursing assignment that I even got excited about cooking her dinner.  Alas, a man should know his limitations.

Super Awesome Chicken Soup: Sunday, September 18, 2011

On September 11, Chris and I celebrated the start of football season and the obvious memorial anniversary the only way we know how – food and friends. The centerpiece of the meal was a beer can chicken slow cooked on the smoker for about six hours. The day and the meal were fantastic but sometimes the best part of the story is the epilogue, which brings us to the following Sunday Funday.

Chris had frozen the remains of the chicken from the week earlier with big plans to make a soup. The chicken came out of the freezer to be reinvented one week after its first appearance in our kitchen. Here is how it turned into soup…