Creamy Turkey Wild Rice Soup

Add the mushrooms, garlic, and sauté for 1 to 2 minutes, or until fragrant. Stir nearly continuously.

Evenly sprinkle the flour, stir to combine, and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Stir nearly continuously.

Add 1 teaspoon salt, poultry seasoning, thyme, rosemary, sage, pepper, wild rice, reduced sodium chicken broth, bay leaves, and bring to a boil. Allow soup to boil fairly rapidly for about 30 minutes, or until liquid volume has reduced by nearly half. Stir intermittently, making sure to scrape up rice that will have a tendency to stick to the bottom.

Turn the heat to medium-low, cover, and allow soup to simmer covered for about 25 minutes, or until rice is as done as desired. Tips– Wild rice has much more chewiness than other rice and even when it’s done it’s very al dente. Some of the rice grains will have appeared to burst or split open which is a good visual cue that it's done, but be sure to taste a few spoonfuls before determining if it's done or not. All wild rice will vary in the time it takes to fully cook through, the rate of your boil, the size of the pot, kitchen temperature, and so forth, so boil it as long as needed so it's done.

Remove the lid, add the cream (start with 1 cup), the leftover turkey (white and dark meat) or leftover turkey breast, stir to combine, and allow soup to simmer gently uncovered for about 5 to 10 minutes, or until slightly thickened. Tips - If desired, you may be able to get away with only 1 cup of heavy cream rather than 2 cups. I have made it with anywhere between 1 to 2 cups and it really depends on your preferences but to achieve the look of the photos, use 2 cups. After adding the cream, don’t allow soup to boil too aggressively because the cream can ‘break’. The soup will thicken as it cools and I find that as the leftover soup sits in the fridge, the rice continues to absorb the liquid over a few days so don’t worry if it looks a little brothy or seems to have almost too much liquid at this at this point.

Remove the bay leaves, and sprigs of fresh herbs if you used them, add the parsley, and stir to combine.

Taste soup and optionally add the lemon juice which really brightens up the flavor, and the optional sugar to balance the overall flavor profile.

Then add additional salt, pepper, or more herbs, as desired. Tips - If your soup tastes at all flat or boring, it likely needs more salt. The total amount of salt will vary based on how salty the brand of broth you used was, how much salt your leftover turkey had, and personal preference for salt. Personally I add about 2 teaspoons initially (in step 3) and another 2 or 3 teaspoons now. You are flavoring over a gallon of liquid + many pounds of vegetables and bland rice. Don't be afraid to add as much salt as it needs; which is why restaurant soup tastes so good as they aren't shy about adding salt.

Serve immediately.