Minnesota cream of wild rice soup?

Lisl's gastronomic business trip continues. We rocked up to St Paul last night looking for comfort food. Who knew that cream of wild rice soup is not only a Minnesota specialty but quite delicious? Looking for the recipe on cooks.com, there seem to be two schools of thought on how Minnesota wild rice soup should be made - one with cream and the other with tomatoes and spices. I had the creamy one last night and it was great, but I'm sure Giff will want the spicy one.

Here's a recipe I found that looks close to what I had last night. Looking forward to experimenting when I get home (when the temperature drops below 60 or we get air conditioning)

MINNESOTA WILD RICE SOUP

1/4 c. butter
1/4 c. raw wild rice
1/2 c. slivered almonds
1/2 c. diced onions
1/2 c. diced celery
1/2 c. diced carrot
Soup stock, about 4 1/2 c.
3-4 tsp. cornstarch
2 c. whipping cream or half and half

In heavy pan, melt the butter over medium heat and saute the wild rice, almonds, onion, celery and carrot for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the soup stock and simmer over low heat for 1 1/4 hours, skimming occasionally. Thicken with the cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 cup of cream. Stir in the remaining cream.