Tortillia Soup

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After suffering with a cold a few days, I decided the best thing was a batch of spicy, tortillia soup. First, I make a bit more than a gallon of chicken stock. Then remove the chicken, let it cool, then shred. Next, saute onions, peppers, celery & spices to soften the former and bloom the later. Provides more stand up and BARK to it. Then it all goes back in the pot to simmer.

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It's pretty head-clearing spicy, so I just add some cojita cheese, cilantro, green onion and a few avocado slices. Tortillia chips go in the bottom of the bowl first, then soup on top.

Enjoyed with Guiness Extra Stout!

Cold soon over after ingesting first bowl full.....
 
Tortilla soup is one of my all time FAVE meals!! I love buttering up some corn tortillas and scooping up the soup with it. I've got all the fixings' for it right now. I think I'll make it this weekend
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Yep! I find cooking theraputic and only make soups, chili, etc. when it (finally) cools off for awhile (mid-50°F). It takes hours to make a batch, but it's delicious and lasts a long time. So many great flavor combinations, served up with a spicy KICK! I took some to a few close neighbors to enjoy.
 
Originally Posted By: sleddriver
Yep! I find cooking theraputic and only make soups, chili, etc. when it (finally) cools off for awhile (mid-50°F). It takes hours to make a batch, but it's delicious and lasts a long time. So many great flavor combinations, served up with a spicy KICK! I took some to a few close neighbors to enjoy.



And for some reason,at least to me,meals like this taste ever better a few days later!
 
Originally Posted By: dave123
Looks good I would go with a DIPA but hey that's my taste.

I find IPA's over-hopped & bitter. I do understand why they were traditionaly made that way (preservation). I like big, deep, malty beers..but only when it's COLD outside.
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Originally Posted By: sleddriver
Originally Posted By: dave123
Looks good I would go with a DIPA but hey that's my taste.

I find IPA's over-hopped & bitter. I do understand why they were traditionaly made that way (preservation). I like big, deep, malty beers..but only when it's COLD outside.
cheers3.gif


I got ya IPA not for everyone a Dogfish World Wide Stout kick that cold.
 
Sure looks great... Too bad I'm not your neighbor.

We have a couple of soups similar to that called 'caldo tlalpeño' and 'sopa azteca'. They have chunks of raw avocado, shredded string cheese, a piece of canned chipotle pepper, and fresh dairy cream served on top of them. The 'tlalpeño' contains vegetables and garbanzo beans, and the 'azteca' contains crispy pork rinds.

The 'caldo tlalpeño' is my go to when we go out to eat at a good restaurant.

What we call tortilla soup is finely ground dark beans [think espresso] in chicken broth served over fried tortilla strips, served without shredded chicken.
 
Originally Posted By: dave123
Originally Posted By: sleddriver
Originally Posted By: dave123
Looks good I would go with a DIPA but hey that's my taste.

I find IPA's over-hopped & bitter. I do understand why they were traditionaly made that way (preservation). I like big, deep, malty beers..but only when it's COLD outside.
cheers3.gif


I got ya IPA not for everyone a Dogfish World Wide Stout kick that cold.

The spicy, kickin-chickin was first in line, followed by all the herbs & chipotle chilis + adobo. The Guinnes assured I slept well! A belly-full really warms you up inside, then travels to your chest & head where it loosens the junk. I followed by drinking LOTS of water the next few days to "rinse well".
 
Those sound great. "Interior" Mex-style is a very rare treat here. Fortunately, dried chilis are much easier to find than 20yrs ago. I used to come back from Northern New Mexico with enough for an entire year!

Some here make blonde tortilla soup, but I always add rehydrated, roasted red chilis, chipotle chilis + adobo, some tomato paste, etc. to add another dimension of flavor.

The next batch will be Pozole! Then onto a Mole sauce later. It goes well on so many things.
 
trying my hand at it tonight, just based on the ingredients listed...not as hot so my wife can eat.

also added half a can of hunts stewed tomatoes, not sure if that was listed as an ingredient.
 
Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
Can you post the exact recipe? That looks amazing. Thanks!

Thank you for the praise. However, typing it all up would be quite an effort, particularly at this busy time of year. It's a recipe that I've modified over the past 20 yrs now and much of it isn't written down. In total, it takes about 4-1/2hrs of cooking, not including the prep and shredding the chicken.

I frequently taste, then add ingredients as I go. I use far more spice & herbs than most recipes because I enjoy big, bold, deep, rich flavors. I learned to cook like this decades ago now because I was quite frustrated with most recipes where they acted like they were "afraid" of herbs, spices and HEAT. A 1/4tsp of this and that. That just won't cut it with me....

The main thing is to experiment and not settle for weak, watered down stocks, soups or flavor.

One key tip is to fry a sauce first to concentrate the flavors. Dried chilis are rehydrated in hot water, then blended with tomato paste & spices, then fried in a skillet. Why? It builds more complex & rich flavors. It will transition from a bright red to a brick red. But you have to carefully watch it & stir it or it'll quickly scorch! Once burnt, you have to start over...

Cajun style also uses this technique when building a roux: The darker it is, the richer it tastes.

Instead of just adding raw carrots, celery, etc. to a pot, saute it first (especially with those two due to the high water content). Spices are all added at this stage to "bloom" them, concentrating their flavors, instead of simply dumping them into a gallon of stock and hoping for great flavor.

Look up: Coyote Cafe, Hudson's On The Bend, Rick Bayless, Sante Fe Hot & Spicy cookbook and Cook's Illustrated. (Note the later is far too mild for me in most cases, but they do go into flavor development, building fond, and blooming spices which is good, as well as good technique. Plus you can always up the spices to suit your own level.)

Cooking like this takes more time, and requires more attention on your part, but the results are really worth it and leave you & your family, friends and guests with lasting memories. And that's what it's all about!

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Let me know how it works out.

This recipe for Red Pozole is similiar to my Red Tortilla Soup in that a chicken stock is made first, then the sauce is made, then fried, then added to the stock with chicken.
 
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