Tortilla Soup

Updated version of tortilla soup, perfect for when you have leftover rotisserie chicken, chicken taco/or fajita meat is great too. I have discovered the magic of pureeing corn tortillas with broth to thicken and flavor the soup. It’s ok if they are a little stale or a few days past their prime, the soup will give them new life. If you don’t have corn tortillas you could probably use a handful of corn chips for the same effect, just pay attention to the amount of salt they may add.

If you don’t have leftovers, this recipe is written for braising chicken thighs. If you are using leftovers, just skip the browning of the chicken part. The bacon adds a nice smokey element but the soup will be fine without it.

What you need:

1 lb of boneless skinless chicken thighs

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 bell pepper, finely chopped

1 carrot, peeled and chopped

2 slices of good quality bacon, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp crushed chipotle chiles

2 tsp cumin

1 1/2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp dried oregano

salt and pepper

28 oz tomato purée

1 quart low sodium chicken broth

2-3 small corn tortillas

*Tortilla chips, grated cheese, sour cream, and hot sauce, fresh cilantro and avocado also great additions (The Chipotle Tabasco is great in this soup).

Begin by sautéing the peppers, onion, carrots, and bacon with a pinch of salt and pepper until the bacon begins to crisp up (about 5 minutes). Scoot veggies to the outside of the pot. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and add to the pot. Brown chicken on all sides, add the spices and allow them to become fragrant. Then add the tomatoes and deglaze the bottom of the pot, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom. Now stir in half of the broth. Bring to a simmer.

Meanwhile, put the other half of the chicken broth in a blender and add the corn tortillas. Allow them to sit for a minute or two to soften up. Puree until smooth. Add the broth/tortilla puree to the soup pot. After about 20 minutes the chicken should be falling apart, remove the chicken and shred the it with a fork. Now return the chicken to the soup, its finished and ready to enjoy. Serve with crushed tortilla chips, and your favorite accompaniments.

This will be even better the second day : )

One Dish Chicken and Mushrooms

Do you like green bean casserole? Want to turn it into a whole meal? This is basically that but with the addition of quickly braised chicken and no canned soup! It’s got all the cozy flavors we crave this time of year and eats richly but is fairly light. Chicken thighs would be really good and probably better than chicken breasts in this recipe. However, breasts were what I had on hand so that’s what I made. Do either, but be careful not to overcook the breasts or they will be dry…argh.

What you need:

2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

1 lb of uncooked chicken breasts cut into tenders or boneless/skinless chicken thighs

1 tsp dried rosemary

1 tsp dried parsley

salt and pepper

1/2 sliced small yellow onion

1 cup of sliced cremini mushrooms

1 cup of hericot vert or small green beans (fresh or thawed frozen beans are fine)

1 cup of chicken broth

1/4 cup of white wine

1/4 cup of half and half or cream

1/2 cup fried onions (French’s are quite salty so be aware of this when salting the recipe, Lars have less sodium and are great if you can find them)

Begin by patting your chicken dry with a paper towel and lightly sprinkling with salt and pepper and then rubbing in the dried rosemary and parsley. Warm the butter and olive oil in a large skillet and add the chicken when its sizzling. Toss in the onions and spread around the skillet. Do not disturb for about 3 minutes so it browns nicely and then flip over the chicken and do the same. After its seared on both sides remove the chicken to a plate and set aside.

Next add the mushrooms and a sprinkle of salt and pepper and lightly brown them stirring occasionally. Add the white wine and broth and bring to a rolling boil to cook off the alcohol from the wine. After a minute or two, bring down to a very low simmer (very gentle infrequent bubbles). When its cooled down enough slowly pour in the cream and mix rapidly. You don’t want to add the cream when the sauce is too hot or it will curdle. Allow the cream to slowly increase in temperature and bring back to simmering. Now place the chicken back in the pan and fill in empty space with the green beans. Just tuck them in and spoon over the sauce. Place a lid over the top and allow to simmer gently for 10-15 minutes until the chicken is finished cooking. Remove the lid and sprinkle fried onions over the top. Serve with brown or wild rice or alongside potatoes. Enjoy!

Smokey Turkey and Sweet Potato Stew

Y’all. I’m not being hyperbolic when I say that this is the most delicious, savory, satisfying stew to ever be made from Thanksgiving leftovers. I just might roast another turkey so that I can have more of this stew for weeks to come. Smokey, a little spicy, and balanced out with velvety sweet potato and hominy. This was a big hit with my family and sadly, its now all gone because I just polished off the last bowl for lunch. This would be a great way to prepare just about any game bird our poultry, you could use duck, pheasant, or even ground turkey if you aren’t using a leftover roasted bird. Per usual, I just sort of made it up as I went along so these measurements aren’t exact. I will make it again soon and re-check.…so bear with me.

What you need:

1 1/2-2 lbs of roasted light and dark turkey meat, chopped into small pieces

1 small yellow onion, chopped into small pieces

1 sweet bell pepper, chopped into small pieces

1 large carrot, peeled and chopped

salt and pepper

1 tsp dried oregano

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

2 slices of good bacon, chopped into 1 inch slices

1 cup of hatch green chiles (I like to buy the jars of Zia green chiles)

1 cup peeled and chopped fresh tomatillos and 1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes (subbing canned is fine, I just had these on hand)

1 cup sweet potato puree (or I had one leftover roasted sweet potato from Thanksgiving that I mashed and dumped in the pot)

1 uncooked peeled and chopped sweet potato

Roughly 8 cups of chicken stock

1 can of hominy, drained

Begin by sautéing the onion, carrot, pepper, and bacon in a large pot with a drizzle of olive oil and a dash of salt and pepper. After the bacon is crispy and the veggies have softened add in the dried oregano and tomatoes and tomatillos. Let the tomatoes break down and scrape up any brown bits from the bacon and veggies that are on the bottom of the pan. Stir in the hatch chiles and other spices. When the aromas of the spices have released and its very fragrant add the turkey and then the stock one cup at a time keeping track of how soupy it is. Now stir in the sweet potato puree and diced sweet potatoes. Add another pinch of salt and pepper and bring to a boil. After it has boiled for a minute or two reduce to simmer and stir occasionally for at least 30 minutes but preferably 1-2 hours. Add the hominy when you have reached the simmering stage of the soup. Soup is always better the longer it cooks. Stir occasionally until you are ready to eat. This is great on its own but a dollop of sour cream and sliced corn bread are an awesome addition! Enjoy : ).