I have fond memories of the chicken and rice soup my mother made when I was quite young. It was a fairly light soup without much chicken fat but plenty of chicken and rice, and a noticeable amount of parsley, which helped to make a nice broth. Her generous use of fresh parsley gave her soup a unique taste not found in other versions of that type of soup that I experienced then and later. I really enjoyed her version the best.

Lately I found myself experimenting with chicken and rice soup recipe variations ... said experiments of my own design, not Internet selections. I started with a few notions of what I wanted that would make a robust and attractive soup with more variety of ingredients, but still using a fair amount of fresh parsley ... and later also (optionally) using fresh chives. The choice of basil or oregano in this recipe makes a noticeable taste difference, basil being milder and oregano stronger.

To cut to the chase my different experiments were all quite tasty and the approximate gallon of soup made each time didn't last long. I made each successive batch of soup with more variety of fresh ingredients, aiming for a colorful presentation as well as a great taste. And I did want more chicken fat for flavor and a soup not overpowered with rice.

I decided that the base flavor of the soup would be best if I used chicken thighs as they combine light and dark flesh and an ample amount of chicken fat. Six large thighs provided for exactly what I wanted to make ... roughly 1 gallon of soup ... with plenty of taste and just the right amount of chicken in the final soup. I also improved the chicken flavor intensity of the soup broth with a bit of chicken flavored Better Than Bullion®.

Now you get the pleasure of making and enjoying this very fine soup. You will be quite happy, as will your guests. This is genuine comfort food.

Ingredients: (makes approximately one gallon of soup)

6 large chicken thighs, skin on

2 quarts (or more if needed) of water

1 tbsp. of salt (or less ... vary the amount to suit yourself)

1 tsp. of black pepper

3 large celery stalks, diced

1 large fresh carrot, shaved with a potato peeler, and shavings cut into 1" long slices

1 cup of diced sweet onion (Variation: use onion and shallot mixture)

6 sun dried tomatoes, each chopped into four pieces

2 large fresh garlic cloves, sliced thinly

1 red bell pepper cut into 1" long 1/2" wide strips

1 lightly packed cup of chopped fresh parsley

1/2 cup of chopped fresh chives (Optional)

1 tbsp. of dried oregano or dried basil but not both

1 quart of packaged chicken broth (like College Inn® or Swansons®)

1 or 2 tbsp. of chicken flavored Better Than Bullion®

3/4 cup of uncooked basmati rice

Directions:

Simmer the chicken thighs in two quarts of lightly boiling water in a two gallon soup pot with the salt and the pepper for one half hour. Add additional water if necessary to allow all of the thighs to be submersed.

Remove the cooked thighs to a wood cutting board keeping them separated and allow them to cool for 15 minutes.

Add the quart of chicken broth and the Better Than Bullion® chicken flavoring to the soup pot.

Add the processed vegetables/herbs to the soup pot, along with the cup of basmati rice.

Stir the soup and bring it to a low boil on medium high heat. Boil on low heat for 15 minutes to cook the rice, stirring every five minutes. Then turn off the heat.

While the rice is cooking you can process the chicken thighs by hand with a sharp paring knife, eliminating the skin, bone, gristle and fat and any very dark flesh. If you have a dog, put the discarded items, aside from the bones and gristle, into a storage container to feed to your dog later. It will love the snack and you for providing it! Discard the bones and gristle.

Use the knife to cut up the pieces of light and dark flesh into roughly 1" long pieces and then slightly shred them with two forks, then add all of it back into the soup pot and stir well.

Serve the soup hot. It is delicious right away. Or, as described below, you can choose to store the soup.

Put a lid on the pot and let the soup cool slowly to room temperature. Note that the rice in the soup will gradually absorb broth so it is best to serve the soup when made or to freeze it for later use as soon as it is cool to avoid having the rice absorb too much of the broth. If you wait too long and get caught in the rice/broth absorption trap simply add some extra chicken broth to the soup.

Dispense the chicken with rice soup into storage containers and refrigerate them. This soup also freezes well. I vacuum seal some right after it cools to room temperature, put it into the deep freeze, and enjoy it later after thawing/heating it in the microwave oven. Thaw it in the vacuum seal bag, then heat it after dispensing it into the serving bowl.

Whenever, serve the soup hot.

Optionally, use some freshly chopped parsley as a decorative topping.

Each guest can further add salt and pepper as desired.

It is nice to serve this soup with a warmed loaf of sourdough bread or rolls or saltine crackers, and butter.

Enjoy! This is great comfort food.