Tuesday, 10 January 2012

• Recipe: Why The Chicken Crossed The Road Santa Fe-tastic Tortilla Soup

  

  A few years ago, I began to try my hand at making dinner for my family while my parents were at work. I was looking through the Food Network website when I came across this recipe by Rachael Ray. I wasn't sure how it would work, but it ended up becoming a household favorite! However, we don't eat it as soup, per se. My sisters and I scoop it up with the tortilla chips, kind of like a warm and soupy dip. 

  Ingredients

  • Vegetable or corn oil, for drizzling, plus 2 tablespoons -- 2 turns of the pot in a slow stream
  • 3 ears corn on the cob or 2 ears fresh-frozen cobs, defrosted
  • 1 red bell pepper, split and seeded
  • 1 pound chicken breast tenders
  • 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning, 1/3 palm full
  • 1 teaspoon cumin, 1/3 palm full
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 small to medium zucchini, small dice
  • 1 medium yellow skinned onion, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 to 2 chipotle in adobo peppers (medium to hot heat level), chopped -- available in small cans in Mexican and Spanish food section of market
  • 1 can stewed tomatoes, 28 ounces
  • 1 can tomato sauce, 8 ounces
  • 3 cups chicken stock, available in re-sealable paper containers on soup aisle
  • 4 cups blue corn tortilla chips, broken up into large pieces
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar or pepper Jack cheese
  • 1/2 cup sour cream

  Optional garnishes:

  • 1/4 red raw onion, chopped
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro or parsley leaves
  • 1 ripe avocado, diced and dressed with the juice of 1/2 lemon

  Directions

  Heat a grill pan to high and a soup pot to medium high. Drizzle oil on corn and place on grill. Add red pepper to grill with corn. Char vegetables 10 minutes, total, turning occasionally. Remove to cool, 5 minutes. Remove charred skin from the pepper.

  While vegetables cook, dice chicken. Add 2 tablespoons oil to hot soup pot. Add chicken to pot. Season with poultry seasoning, cumin, salt and pepper. Lightly brown chicken on each side. Add zucchini, onions and garlic and chipotle peppers. Cook vegetables with chicken 5 to 7 minutes to soften. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce and stock. Bring soup to a bubble, reduce heat to medium low.

  Scrape corn off cob and add to soup. Chop grilled red pepper and stir into soup. Add chips to soup in handfuls and fold in. Serve soup immediately with scatter of shredded cheese and a dollop of sour cream. Top with any or all of the suggested garnishes.

  Some things to keep in mind: (Notes from Melissa)

  • I do not add poultry seasoning OR cumin. The poultry seasoning usually has MSG, and everyone in my house has a super bad reaction to that. The cumin also seems to be unnecessary. This is obviously a personal call.
  • A grill pan is not needed for the pepper and the corn. I do heat them in a separate pan with some oil, but a regular pan works just fine!
  • The chipotle in adobo peppers can sometimes be really hard to find! When my supermarket does have them, I usually buy a couple cans and stock up. If you cannot find them, don't worry! A sliced jalapeno works just fine to give it a little spice. 
  • I also do not add the tortilla chips directly to the soup! As previously mentioned, we use the chips as scoops for the soup! 

   

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