Shagdog
Quintessential Chatty Farker
- Joined
- Jul 1, 2013
- Location
- Grayslak...
Got a head cold this week and really wanted some soup with a kick to clean out my sinuses.. This one always does the trick. Its good stuff!
Parts of this recipe are borrowed from other sources... I lifted part from Cooks Illustrated (The frying chilis part) and a lot of the rest comes from me striving to imitate the tortilla soup from Rancho De Tia Rosa's in Mesa AZ. Hands down the best version of this you will ever try. I think I get pretty close, my mom says its there, but I'm sure it could get closer.. On that note, at the end I give some garnish instructions... Lime, Avocado, Cheese in the bowl. In my opinion, all of these are crucial to the final broth flavor. If you're going to cut one out, cut the avocado. The cheese and lime are really really important if you want this to be as good as it can be.. OK, here goes..
Started with a big ol 8 1/2 lb bird. This was definitely overkill. a 6lb chook would be fine, or if you're just boiling the chicken, 4 bone in breasts work fine too..
Spatchcocked it, trimmed it, removed some weird piece of plastic they had jammed into the breast meat..
Hit it with some Ted and Barneys, both sides, and put it on the shirley, which was puffin' thin blue around 350..
On the bottom shelf you see some heirloom tomatoes from the garden, a jalapeno, and some fresh corn.. I love smoked tomatoes for this, but you could also use a 28 oz can of whole tomatoes.
The garden this year put out some crazy good varieties of tomatoes.. Mr. Stripeys, Lemon Boys, Pink Girls, Brandywines..
The tomatoes will only take 20-30 minutes to smoke.. Once the skins start breaking, they're probably done. The ones I smoked were very ripe, and when I removed the skins they just kind of fell apart like stewed tomatoes.
Fast forward a couple hours.. The chicken is done. I gotta tell ya, out of everything the Shirley does, and it does them all well, it cooks some of the best chicken I've ever had. just phenomenal. Look at this baby!
So... I pulled the chicken, and set aside
Took the carcass and put it in a big pot with around 160 oz of chicken broth and let it simmer for a couple hours. To that I added 2 small onions, halved, 3 cloves of garlic, and a small bundle of cilantro and oregano. Don't chop the onions. These are just going to steep in there to richen the broth. You'll remove them later. That's why I leave the ends on.. it helps keep them together.
So while that is on a low simmer, its veggie time.
Chop about a cup each of carrot, celery, and onion. Set this aside.
Now, rough chop another cup of celery, Carrot and onion. Add 4-6 cloves garlic, the smoked tomatoes, the jalapeno, some oregeno, cilantro, 3-5 chipotles, and a couple tablespoons of the adobo sauce. Put this in the the food processor.
It may not all fit, and will make a mess if you aren't paying attention..
Its ok to do it in 2 batches. As long as it is all blitzed, you can just mix back together after you're done.
After you are done cleaning up your mess around the food processor....
Heat up a skillet with a couple tbs of oil, and add your mixture.
Its pretty watery, right? Well the point of this is to fry all that water out and concentrate the flavors, let er rip. of and if you have a screen, you may want to use it, this can be messy..
After 10-15 minutes, you will notice that its really turned into a paste almost..
Once the water is mostly gone, shut the heat off and let it sit till you need it..
Back to the pot of broth. Its been a couple hours, remove the carcass, onions, herbs, garlic etc. You can do this with a spoon or pour it through a colander. I will usually remove the big stuff and then pour it, but its up to you. Now you just have broth. Add the Thin chopped carrot, onions and celery and bring to a boil.
Now, preheat your oven to 450.
Give it 5-10 minutes for the veggies to soften, then add the paste you fried and the chicken. Let everybody get friendly for a few minutes. No need to have a rolling boil.. just a simmer.. While they do... Remember that smoked corn?? Go ahead and add that in...
Slice some corn tortillas into strips and toss in a little olive oil and salt. Then lay out on cookie sheets
Put them in the oven and set your timer for 10 minutes. IF YOU DO NOT SET YOUR TIMER, YOU WILL FORGET AND HAVE BLACK CHIPS AND A SMOKEY KITCHEN. At least that's how I roll. Every. Farking. Time.
Toss the chips somewhere in the middle, and cook them till crispy throughout.. Takes anywhere from 10-20 minutes for this..
While your chips cook and your soup finishes, Prep your bowls and whatnot... A spritz of lime, in my opinion, is not optional in this dish. It is mandatory. As is Chihuahua cheese in the bottom of the bowl and avocado on top!
Ok, chips are done. Dish it up!
Thanks for stickin' with it. I know this was long winded, but hopefully ya'll enjoy it as much as we do!
Parts of this recipe are borrowed from other sources... I lifted part from Cooks Illustrated (The frying chilis part) and a lot of the rest comes from me striving to imitate the tortilla soup from Rancho De Tia Rosa's in Mesa AZ. Hands down the best version of this you will ever try. I think I get pretty close, my mom says its there, but I'm sure it could get closer.. On that note, at the end I give some garnish instructions... Lime, Avocado, Cheese in the bowl. In my opinion, all of these are crucial to the final broth flavor. If you're going to cut one out, cut the avocado. The cheese and lime are really really important if you want this to be as good as it can be.. OK, here goes..
Started with a big ol 8 1/2 lb bird. This was definitely overkill. a 6lb chook would be fine, or if you're just boiling the chicken, 4 bone in breasts work fine too..
Spatchcocked it, trimmed it, removed some weird piece of plastic they had jammed into the breast meat..
Hit it with some Ted and Barneys, both sides, and put it on the shirley, which was puffin' thin blue around 350..
On the bottom shelf you see some heirloom tomatoes from the garden, a jalapeno, and some fresh corn.. I love smoked tomatoes for this, but you could also use a 28 oz can of whole tomatoes.
The garden this year put out some crazy good varieties of tomatoes.. Mr. Stripeys, Lemon Boys, Pink Girls, Brandywines..
The tomatoes will only take 20-30 minutes to smoke.. Once the skins start breaking, they're probably done. The ones I smoked were very ripe, and when I removed the skins they just kind of fell apart like stewed tomatoes.
Fast forward a couple hours.. The chicken is done. I gotta tell ya, out of everything the Shirley does, and it does them all well, it cooks some of the best chicken I've ever had. just phenomenal. Look at this baby!
So... I pulled the chicken, and set aside
Took the carcass and put it in a big pot with around 160 oz of chicken broth and let it simmer for a couple hours. To that I added 2 small onions, halved, 3 cloves of garlic, and a small bundle of cilantro and oregano. Don't chop the onions. These are just going to steep in there to richen the broth. You'll remove them later. That's why I leave the ends on.. it helps keep them together.
So while that is on a low simmer, its veggie time.
Chop about a cup each of carrot, celery, and onion. Set this aside.
Now, rough chop another cup of celery, Carrot and onion. Add 4-6 cloves garlic, the smoked tomatoes, the jalapeno, some oregeno, cilantro, 3-5 chipotles, and a couple tablespoons of the adobo sauce. Put this in the the food processor.
It may not all fit, and will make a mess if you aren't paying attention..
Its ok to do it in 2 batches. As long as it is all blitzed, you can just mix back together after you're done.
After you are done cleaning up your mess around the food processor....
Heat up a skillet with a couple tbs of oil, and add your mixture.
Its pretty watery, right? Well the point of this is to fry all that water out and concentrate the flavors, let er rip. of and if you have a screen, you may want to use it, this can be messy..
After 10-15 minutes, you will notice that its really turned into a paste almost..
Once the water is mostly gone, shut the heat off and let it sit till you need it..
Back to the pot of broth. Its been a couple hours, remove the carcass, onions, herbs, garlic etc. You can do this with a spoon or pour it through a colander. I will usually remove the big stuff and then pour it, but its up to you. Now you just have broth. Add the Thin chopped carrot, onions and celery and bring to a boil.
Now, preheat your oven to 450.
Give it 5-10 minutes for the veggies to soften, then add the paste you fried and the chicken. Let everybody get friendly for a few minutes. No need to have a rolling boil.. just a simmer.. While they do... Remember that smoked corn?? Go ahead and add that in...
Slice some corn tortillas into strips and toss in a little olive oil and salt. Then lay out on cookie sheets
Put them in the oven and set your timer for 10 minutes. IF YOU DO NOT SET YOUR TIMER, YOU WILL FORGET AND HAVE BLACK CHIPS AND A SMOKEY KITCHEN. At least that's how I roll. Every. Farking. Time.
Toss the chips somewhere in the middle, and cook them till crispy throughout.. Takes anywhere from 10-20 minutes for this..
While your chips cook and your soup finishes, Prep your bowls and whatnot... A spritz of lime, in my opinion, is not optional in this dish. It is mandatory. As is Chihuahua cheese in the bottom of the bowl and avocado on top!
Ok, chips are done. Dish it up!
Thanks for stickin' with it. I know this was long winded, but hopefully ya'll enjoy it as much as we do!
