Wild Rice w/ Mushrooms & Pecans

This is an excellent rice dish to serve with duck or other poultry, especially during the autumn months. When we make Duck a l'Orange, we always make this rice as a side dish.

Besides being served as a side dish, this recipe can be also used as a stuffing for turkey, chicken or cornish hens. You may want to add some thyme and sage, and perhaps a bit of oregano for this purpose. The recipe is also similar to Minnesota Wild Rice Soup, which also includes onion, celery and mushrooms, but also pecans.

If making this to go with duck or other poultry, you can cook the giblets and neck in water to use as the chicken broth.

1 cup wild rice (may want to soak in water for a few hours to speed the cooking time*)
3 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
8 ounces fresh button or Cremini mushrooms, quartered
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup pecans, coarsely chopped (almonds are also good)
3 cups chicken broth (if using store-bought, you might want to add 1 bouillon cube, do not add extra salt)
1/8 cup fresh parsley

*You don’t have to soak wild rice, but you can if you like. Soaking the rice in a bowl of water for at least 30 minutes or as long as 2 hours will cut down on the cooking time by 50%, but since it takes time to soak, it doesn’t really save you any time.

Heat the butter in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and sauté until browned, about 10 minutes. Add the mushrooms, celery, garlic, salt, pepper and pecans and sauté until browned, about 10 additional minutes.

Add the chicken broth, parsley, and wild rice. Bring to a boil; cover and simmer over low heat for 60 minutes just until the rice kernals puff open and the broth has evaporated. You may need to add more chicken broth if the rice is taking longer to cook.

Serves 4-6

Note: If using as a stuffing, be certain the mixture is cooled before placing in poultry.