Why Tortilla Soup? Well, I bought a bunch of poblano and Anaheim chilies last week, and I need to do something with them. I thought about making a mild green hot sauce with the peppers (mild sauce?) but making hot sauce is my sister's thing and she is AWESOME at it. She and her husband even made homemade hot sauce as wedding favors when they got married last August. I decided to leave the hot-sauce-making to them.
But then I thought of this sample of Tortilla Soup I had a Wholefoods last week. Boy was it good soup! Like, I wanted to bathe in it. I have been thinking about that sample all week. I would have bought their soup, if they had been selling it, but the sample was part of a demo for a $500 Vitamix, ah... no.
So, I decided I should try to turn my peppers into Tortilla Soup and hope like hell it would taste even a little like that wonderful Vitamix Wholefoods sample.
First, I searched on Pintrest for recipes. I like to cook by reading a ton of recipes for the same thing until I begin to understand the basic jist of the thing. Then I like to just sort of riff on a combo of several recipes. Cooking is much more fun when the rules are less rigid. Some types of cooking, and especially baking, require more attention to the rules, but soup is one of those foods that allows for tons of flexibility.
Since I was starting with this ton of poblano and Anaheim peppers, none of the recipes I found matched exactly what I had in mind or in stock, but Pioneer Woman's recipe was pretty close.
So I started with a package of three chicken breasts, boneless and skinless. I made up a seasoning mix which was basically 1 tablespoon each of New Mexican red chile powder, garlic powder, and cumin. I also added some salt and irrationally decided it might not be hot enough, so I sprinkled in some cayenne, too. You don't need to do this unless you want your soup extra extra spicy. Unnecessary.
I placed the chicken on a rimmed baking sheet, doused the chicken with olive oil, spread the oil around and then sprinkled the seasoning on either side of the boobies. There was a good amount of seasoning left over, but I did heavily coat either side of the chicken. I stuck the chicken in an oven that had been preheated to 375 and cooked the breasts for 20 minutes.
Then I took the chicken out and immediately moved it to a plate so that it would cool faster. I went off and did something else for a good while before shredding the chicken. Sidebar: this chicken was DELICIOUS. Oh man oh man. Yummers.
It was juicy and succulent and the outside had just tons of flavor. I ate more than I should, but I couldn't help myself. Im not sorry. Then I put the chicken in a tupperware in the fridge until I was ready for it. OK, Confession: I did this step the night before.
Ok, so on to the base of the soup. Gather your peppers. Pioneer Woman uses bell peppers. Pssssh. Not this girl. I used two Anaheim chilies, four poblanos, and a handful of jalapeños. Use your judgement, the more the hotter, obviously. So, first things first, I chopped up the chilies and put them in a pot with an onion and some olive oil. Also, three or four garlic cloves, minced.
Note to self: Don't touch your eyes. Even if you wash your hands with soap, avoid touching your eyes. I just put my thumb in my mouth (I don't know why) and MAN it was spicy!! My lips hurt.
Cook until the chile and onions get soft and fragrant. At this point I was getting really hungry and considered cooking up a few of my tortillas as quesadillas. Feel free to indulge whatever hungry urges you get, too. We don't encourage the hangries here.
After the chilies were looking bright and smelling great, I dumped the remaining spices from the chicken seasoning. I decided I'd used so much of the seasoning on the chicken, that I needed more for the soup. I was worried I might have gone overboard, but the flavors came out fantastically.
I added 1 tablespoon of New Mexican red chile powder, 1 1/2 tablespoons of cumin and 1 tablespoon of garlic powder.
Stir and let the flavors meld. This is not an exact science, you just have to feel it.
At this point, it's time to add the chicken.
Confession: I didn't shred the chicken. I shredded soooo much chicken for our Superbowl party's shredded buffalo chicken sliders, that I just couldn't bring myself to bust out the forks and shred some more. So I busted out my awesome kitchen scissors and chopped the chicken up with the scissors, working on the assumption that after a long simmer, the chicken would fall apart even more and that, with soup, rough chops are almost always fine.
(I was right, by the way)
Anyway, stir the chicken in and let it all simmer.
In the mean time, I opened up one can of diced tomatoes and one can of green chilies. Of course, you could use a can of Rotel, but my New Mexican roots made me want even more chile.
YUM
Stir it up, little darling. (Bob Marley tribute tonight!)
Let it simmer. Watch the juices build.
At some point (again, you just have to feel it) I added a container of chicken broth and then maybe about 4 tablespoons of tomato paste. I didn't measure, I just squeezed. Speaking of which, have you seen this product from Trader Joe's?
It's amazing. You keep it in the fridge and squeeze out what you need, as you need it. (You can tell mine is well squeezed) For those who don't have a near by Trader Joe's, have you seen this on Pinterest? Freeze what you don't use from the can. Genius, that Martha is.
Next, I opened two cans of black beans and drained them. I don't normally drain my beans, but Pioneer Woman says to drain, and so I drain. I dumped the beans in and brought the heat up to a boil. I turned the heat down to a simmer and went off to watch the Grammy pre-show for about 30 minutes. Well, I didn't time it, but I think that 30 minutes was about right.
After oscillating between ogling the celebs' hot outfits and judging the Entertainment Channel hosts as total cheeseballs, it was time for the next step.
Again here, it's all about trusting the Pioneer Woman, who says that you must add cornmeal to the Tortilla Soup. Somehow, this just makes sense to me. It sounds right. And so, I did it. I measured out three tablespoons of cornmeal and added some hot water to make it soupy. Then I dumped it in the pot and stirred.
At this point, it's important to taste the soup. Mine had some clear heat and flavor, but needed salt. This is an important time to salt your soup. You don't want to under salt! Of course, you don't want to over salt either. Keep tasting until it gets just right. I used about 2 teaspoons of salt. But taste your own to figure out the right amount. This is also a good time to add a little more cumin if you think your soup needs that nice flavor, or some more chile powder if your soup needs more heat. Mine did not need either. Then I stirred a little more, put a lid on the pot, and it was back to the pre-Grammy show.
After another half hour, (I was better at timing it this go around) I sliced up 5 corn tortillas to put into the soup. I sliced the tortillas as evenly into strips as I could manage. I did pretty well, I think. It is important to drop these tortilla strips in bit by bit stirring while you go so that they go not clump up.
At this point, you will want to add extra water to the soup to get your desired consistency. My soup was looking a little like chili at this point, and several cups of water were needed to get it back to a bonafide soup.
As I was stirring the tortillas and tasting the soup, I had a revelation: this soup would be even better with a little corn added in. Since my soup was about to be done, and I was hungry, I didn't attempt to add any in at the last minute but I'm adding corn to the ingredients listed below because I just know it will be delicious with the addition of some frozen grilled corn from Trader Joes (or whatever corn you like to use-- fresh in the summer would be awesome!)
Update: Second time I made the soup I added the corn and it was awesome. Husband commented that the corn "made" the soup.
After making this soup a few times, I took it one step further. Inspired by a recipe I'd seen for "chicken and lime" soup, I added the juice of two limes and half a bunch of cilantro, roughly chopped with my kitchen scissors. These added flavors enhanced what I had already been doing with my condiments, and really took the soup to the next level.
I had planned to slice another 5 corn tortillas to fry up as a topping, but I had an abundance of tortilla chips leftover from the Superbowl and decided throw those in, instead. Yum, guys. The salty crispy tortilla chips took the soup to the next level. I am sure homemade chips or strips would have rocked as well, but I actually recommend the store bought variety not only because they are easier, but also because they have have a better crispy texture that holds up in the soup.
I don't normally do this but... here's an approximation of my ingredients:
FOR THE CHICKEN3 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts (I bought the 3 pack from Trader Joes)Some Olive Oil
1 tablespoon each of Cumin, New Mexican Red Chile Powder, and Garlic Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
Sprinkle of Cayenne (optional!)
FOR THE SOUP
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
1 Diced Onion2 Anaheim Chiles
4 Poblano Chiles
1-4 Jalapeños
4 cloves Garlic, minced1 tablespoon of New Mexican red chile powder, 1 1/2 tablespoons of cumin and 1 tablespoon of garlic powder (For a less spicy version, cut out all or most of the red chile powder, as the seasoning from the chicken will also flavor your soup)
1 can of diced tomatoes and one can of diced New Mexican Green Chiles or, alternatively, 1 can of Rotel Tomatoes And Green Chilies
1 container (32 ounces) of Trader Joe's Organic (low sodium) Chicken Stock
4 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
2 cans (15 oz) Black Beans, Drained
1 cup of thawed (previously) frozen, grilled corn from Trader Joe's, or use fresh corn on the cob. Or whatever corn you want.
1-5 cups of hot water
3 Tablespoons Cornmeal Or Masa
A bit of Hot Water
5 whole Corn Tortillas
2 limes
Half a bunch of cilantro
Ideas for garnishes
Diced Avocado
Diced Onion (red onion, or white onion would be fine, but I prefer green onion for their color and less biting flavor)
Grated Cheddar Cheese
Queso Fresco
Cilantro
Lime Wedges
Store bought tortilla chips, slightly crushed
Homemade tortilla chips, fried up using remaining corn tortillas
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