chicken tortilla soup

[simplynaturalfarm]

One of my girls favorite meals is chicken tortilla soup. I don't like the recipes online so have adapted to what we like the flavor of. We are having it for lunch and since I never have a recipe to give to people when they ask for it, I kept track of what I was doing this time.
The day before, I start two of my homegrown birds (usually 8lbs) and fill the roaster half with water, season everything and cook on low for 6+ hours. The next day I separate the stock for cooking, put the breasts aside for chicken pita or chicken caesar salad etc, use the thighs/legs for the chicken tortilla soup and then put the carcasses, skin and necks/scrap meat back into the roaster, add more water and make more stock. Very good for rice etc.
In a frying pan put a couple tbsp butter and 2 medium onions chopped (or no onion now if using dehydrated) Fry til onions are soft and then add
3-4 tbsp cumin
1. 5 tbsp chili powder(this makes mine have a bite)
½ tbsp smokey paprika
1 tbsp chopped garlic (or garlic powder)
Cook for 2-3 minutes (do not burn)
Add 10-12 cups chicken broth and if using dehydrated onion, add it now and let is simmer for a few minutes.
Continue with
1 can of diced tomatoes – Dh likes chunky tomatoes, I like to blend the mix so it is not chunky.
1 can of tomato sauce - not spaghetti sauce!
½ can of tomato paste (the 11 oz can, not the small ones - use a whole small one if that is what you have. I have also used tomato powder from our organic store when I had it)
1 can of green chillis, or some green chilli sauce, enchilada sauce, whatever you have.
Chop up 4 cooked legs/thigh combo from the birds you already cooked
Added 1 can of corn (I have used frozen and 2 cups)
1 quart of homecanned black beans
At this point I cook it for about ½ hour and then if it is too thin, I make a paste of 2-4 tbsp flour with water added and then add that. It will thicken your soup/stock very well and then I cook til ready to serve. If I am not in a rush I will simmer in a stock pot for 4+ hours which thickens it nicely without flour.
2 tbsp cilantro and a handful of parsley (I don’t like parsley so skip, but DH likes parsley) at the end
Sometimes I add a splash of cream or milk to make it look creamier, but we always serve it with sour cream, cheese etc.
OH, I have also used straight blended tomatoes, straight tomato sauce, etc without noticing too much difference. If you are skipping the paste and doing all canned tomatoes (that you puree), make sure you use a bit less of something or the soup WILL be too runny and diluted.
Heather

[Lesli]

That sounds very similar to how I fix it 'cept with out the corn and black beans. I also don't thicken it. We found that we liked it thinner, finding that cream and cheese thickened it enough for us. That and we used corn chips crunched up in it as we fixed each bowl, to each how they preferred it. I do like black beans and have no doubt that I would love it with the black beans. Corn often upsets my stomach so I tend to avoid it, and have found I did not miss it in the soup. It was a family favorite for so long, I used to fix it like once a week, we have not had it in a very long time, I may have to get the stuff to fix it soon!! Thanks!! I think I cut up and saute`d a whole onion in a bit of olive oil first and then added the garlic right before the chicken stock so it would not burn.

And I think I used rotel diced tomatoes and chili's instead of a can of each. Often it was too hot and we like heat, so we used the mild rotel instead of the hot.
Lesli

[simplynaturalfarm]

Leslie, I usually use rotel diced tomato with chlli, but found most people I know don't even know what it is LOL.
So good suggestion also!
I don't usually thicken it as I cook it til the thickness I like and VERY GOOD POINT - the sour cream does thicken it so much that if you have too thick of a soup and add sour cream it becomes enough you can stand a spoon in it LOL. Then I eat way to many corn chips using it as a dip.
Heather