Whoopy once, whoopy twice...

     Whoopy Chicken Soup with Rice!  Maurice Sendak is my husband's favorite children's book illustrator and my boys love him, too.  Who doesn't dream of following Max to the land of the wild things or soaring around naked in a Night Kitchen?  But one of his most delicious titles has to be Chicken Soup with Rice.  A handy primer for teaching months of the year, it has the subliminal effect of making one desperately need a bowl of soup by the end.  But not just any soup, mind you!  Chicken Soup with Rice.

     I made this lovely little thing in the pressure cooker.  The advantage of this is that to make the stock, one processes it for 15 minutes*.  Drain out the bones, pop in some veggies and rice and process for 4 minutes*.  That's right FOUR minutes.  And then, my friends you've got soup that tastes like it's been simmering all day.  I love the pressure cooker for soup!

*Times do not include the time it takes to bring the pot to pressure.  It still takes under an hour to make this stock and all, though.

Quick Chicken Soup with Rice
 (Yields 6-8 servings)

For the Stock:
1 Chicken carcass, picked pretty clean
1 Onion, halved and peeled
2 cloves of Garlic, peeled

Place the carcass in the crock pot and submerge it in enough water to cover it.  Water should not come above half way up the side of the pot.  Add the onion and garlic.  Put the lid on the pot and make sure the weight is on.  Heat on high until the weight starts to jiggle.  Reduce heat to low so that the weight jiggles slowly.  Cook for 15 minutes.  At the end of that time, run cold water over the lid of the pressure cooker (not the valve) to release the pressure and open the lid.  (Consult your cooker's instruction manual for additional quick pressure release methods your cooker may have.)  Put a strainer over a large bowl and drain the carcass and vegetables out of the stock.  The onion should be extremely soft.  If you want, you can put the stock in the fridge and let it cool. It will be really easy to skim the fat off when it hardens.  (Clearly, I didn't bother with this step tonight.)  You can freeze the stock for later if you want or can it following chicken soup processing times.

For the Soup:
2 Carrots, sliced
1 stalk Celery, sliced
1 Onion, chopped
2 cloves Garlic, diced
1 C white Long Grain Rice, rinsed (Basmati is nice)
1 C cooked Chicken pieces
1 Tbs Thyme
Salt and Pepper to taste

Return the stock to the pressure cooker.  Add water as necessary to bring the level to half way up the cooker.  Add veggies, thyme, chicken, and rice.  Close the lid and add the weight.  Heat on high until weight jiggles.  Reduce heat until weight jiggles slowly.  Cook for 4 minutes.  Remove from heat and reduce pressure quickly by running water over the lid or whatever quick release methods your cooker has. Adjust seasonings as desired.

Review:
My youngest son LOVED it!  He said, "Mom!  I'm the little boy in the book!"  Unfortunately, my eldest has a cold and slept through dinner, but I'm sure he'll be all over this at lunch tomorrow!