Chicken Tortilla Soup, A Staple

After too many unsuccessful recipes, a T&T and teen counterpart favorite was busted out. I can remember the very first time I had Chicken Tortilla Soup. It was a local Tex-Mex chain food restaurant in my hometown with my cousin and we were sophomores in high school. The chain food was nothing to write home about but it was cheap and had free tea refills. Their Chicken Tortilla Soup on the other hand was nothing like I had ever had before or since. It was completely unique. Tomato based, shredded chicken, crunchy tortilla strips, two slices of lime, and cheese. Always served piping hot with fresh chips on the side. When ordered with a side order queso and chips or spanish rice it was enough to share.

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken, quartered

1 small yellow onion, finely diced

3 cloves garlic, smashed

1 medium jalapeno, whole

1 bunch cilantro, cut in half across stems

28 oz tomato sauce

2 tablespoons chili powder

1 tablespoon comino

2 cubes Pollo de Tomate

Salt and pepper

Toppings:

Thick tortilla chips, preferably strips

Spanish rice

Shredded cheddar cheese

Lime juice

Cilantro

Optional Toppings:

Onions, diced

Sour Cream

Avocado, sliced

Jalapeno, fresh or canned

Instructions:

In large stock pot add onion, garlic, jalapeno, cilantro stems, chicken, tomato sauce, chili powder, comino, tomate cubes, and water to cover with 2" extra. Boil chicken. Remove chicken, garlic, and jalapeno from stock and let cool. While broth is cooling, shred chicken. Once broth is cooled, remove excess fat and return shredded chicken. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serve in large flat bowls with toppings of choice.

If I could only choose two topping I would choose lime juice and the chips. This soup only gets better with age. As leftovers start to run low, Spanish rice is added as a filler alongside the chips and cheese. If too much rice is added the soup becomes a thick stew and it could be eaten on chips. Messy but oh so yummy.

Scaled for Likability: Great

Enjoy!

Better Than Campbell's Old Fashion Vegetable Soup

Went to the store with the hopes of gathering fresh produce for soup. With more than 45 people in line for two packages of any meat product and the produce section containing only avocado, orange, and most randomly, strawberries, I settled upon canned soup. Well not canned soup since that section was still void of food, too. Instead soup made from canned goods as the canned vegetable section had been mostly restocked. Soups like this 15 Minute Vegetable Soup are ideal in dire food situations such as current times. Modifications Made: Plain petite diced tomatoes for flavored tomatoes, frozen carrots instead of canned, green beans and corn undrained, peas omitted (gross, nasty little pods), one can tomato sauce, two low sodium chicken and two pollo de tomate bouillon cubes, six cups water. Once onions were softened, carrots, juice of green beans and corn, sauce, bouillon cubes, water were added and allowed to simmer until carrots almost tender. Green beans and corn tossed in, heat t

So Sad Cake Brownies

Oh my word how does a space as small a pantry becomes so disorganized? And in such a short time, nonetheless? While reorganizing the four 2x4 pantry shelves yesterday a golden back of the box recipe was discovered. Milk Brownies. Replacing yogurt for milk or applesauce for oil, these are commonplace alternatives. Milk for water in a box brownie, this had to be tried. Stat. Modifications Made: Per the box, 1/3 cup milk replaced 1/3 water. Half cup of chopped walnuts were added along with two tablespoons of Hershey chocolate syrup. Because why not. Scaled for Likability: No, Thank You The milk was fine, the extra chocolate was fine. Walnuts could have been doubled. The problem was the brownies themselves. I accidently made cake brownies with two eggs instead of fudge brownies with just one brownie. So sad. These were given to the neighbor who prefers cake brownies. If the neighbor liked fudge brownies (they are the best kind) these would have gone to the chickens. They have no

Papas a La Mexicana (Ranchera)

It is a crying shame that there are six hens and not a egg in sight. What am I supposed to do with homemade ranchero sauce? Thankfully with a few quick searches of the internet a recipe from my hometown newspaper was discovered: Papas Ranchera . Not once in the thirty years I lived in my hometown did I ever eat at a local food joint serving papas rancheras. No time like the present to remedy this cultural dish. Because this recipe is hidden behind a paywall (grrr...) I have included it here for you: Servings: 4-6 Ingredients: 1 pound potatoes, diced 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/2 large onion 1 1/2 medium tomatoes 3 jalapenos 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup juice from canned tomatoes Instructions: Fry potatoes in vegetable oil until lightly browned (about 4-6 minutes). Saute onions, tomatoes, jalapenos until soft. Add garlic powder and salt. Add tomato juice until vegetables are covered (may need to add water). Bring to a boil and then add potatoes. Cover and reduc

Eating Waffles

Search This Blog