Did They Eat It: Smoky Chipotle Chicken Tortilla Soup

Cooking has been slowly making its way back onto my radar. This could be because it's (not really but feels like) winter now and the cold makes it hard to want to leave the house. Or perhaps it was the cries of the children, "Pasta!? Again?" That triggered my guilt and need to put something good in the mouths of my children. Of course "something good" means something very different to me than it does to the children.

I had a craving for soup so I decided to browse Ree's new project Tasty Kitchen looking for a recipe for some form of Chicken Tortilla Soup. I'm guessing Ree does not work in her bed in her pajamas. I might try working at a desk, maybe then I'd be as productive as this woman. Only not.

I settled on Smoky Chipotle Chicken Tortilla Soup which sounded like I'd at least like it.

I bought a rotisserie chicken at Costco. $5.00! And no, I didn't feel a little silly buying razors, a chicken and a case of Sierra Nevada. I also bought a hunk of queso blanco.

If you ever want to either become a vegetarian or revel in your carnivorous status, might I suggest tearing a rotisserie chicken apart with your hands? wow.

Take an onion, and dice it. Really small so Logan doesn't notice.

Take two poblano peppers and dice them up as well. I am apparently very sensitive to the oils in hot peppers because I spent the rest of the night soaking my hand in heavy cream to ease the burn.

Two chipotle peppers in adobo, only two. Not two cans.

Remember when I made that soup? And put a whole can of chipotle peppers in it, instead of the one the recipe called for? That was fun for everyone.

The juice of two limes. Do you know the secret for picking good, juicy limes? It's a source of pride for me and I'd like to share it with you.

You want a pretty smooth surface on your lime and you want it to feel heavy for it's size. When you cut it open the best limes are the ones without a lot of white around the edge. Perfect.

4 slices of bacon cut into 1/4" pieces. Yes, I bought just 4 slices and it felt very very wrong.

Cook the bacon.

Remove all but 2 tablespoons of the fat and add the onion.

Then add 5 cloves of garlic. I use the pre-minced jarred kind and you are silently judging me now. I understand.

and then add the poblanos.

Cook until fragrant.

Then add the two (only two) chopped chipotle peppers.

And a (28 ounce) can of fire roasted tomatoes.

Yum.

Next put the chicken you savagely ripped from the bones in the pan.

Then add 1-1/2 cups chicken broth. You can add more later if your soup is too thick.

Mix it all up and let reach a boil, then turn heat to low and let it simmer for 10 minutes.

Add two tablespoons of heavy cream.

The lime juice.

And the bacon.....

Mix it all up and let heat through.

Here are the bowls ready to be filled and then rejected.

Here are the accompaniments, that pretty much only I ate. Except for the chips.

Final product, obviously my bowl since there's STUFF on it.

Did They Eat It?

Logan: Made a big serving of rice and ate this as a topping. The marathon is Sunday and he needs his carbs and not a lot of fiber. (Runner's Trots)

Maddie: "Keep the rice seperate!" Ate rice and chips and a little of the chicken once she licked the soup off it claiming she couldn't stand the taste of something she was licking.

Max: "I like this and I'm pretty happy you only put two chipotle peppers in it because last time I lost all my tastebuds."

Me: Pretty tasty and simple. I'd use a bit less lime juice and maybe add some cumin. Also it didn't taste like the tortilla soup I had in San Antonio and that was disappointing. I guess we'll just have to go back.

*For the full recipe please visit Tasty Kitchen.

Comments

[Pants]

Maddie also picked the bacon out of the soup and ate that.

[Carrie at Rhubarbsky]

You gotta use a knife and fork to cut up hot peppers. It feels really silly, but it totally works. I can't make myself put latex gloves on to cut up a pepper. . . seems so wasteful. But, the knife and fork on a plate that's easy to wash . . . totally the way to go. This is coming from someone who has burned her eyes and, uh, other bits of my body, from pepper on the fingers. Just sayin'.

[shelly North]

The crockpot version of Chicken Tortilla soup on the same site is absolutely amazing. I highly recommend it.

[ashley]

That looks delicious.

PS - Doesn't Hollywood have great bacon? Mmmmmmmmmm... Bacon......

[April]

Looks awesome.

Good luck to Logan on Sunday! I'm a pansy and am running the shortest leg (3 miles) of the relay portion. Those runner's trots are lethal - come to think of it, I shouldn't even be looking at a picture of this soup right now.

[Jill]

At least your kids AND your husband tried it. Not in my house.

[ella]

Looks yummy!

My tortilla soup never tastes like any of the good restaurant versions.
Come to Austin and let's have soup!

[Kate]

I'm forever looking for the perfect tortilla soup recipe. I usually experiment with the recipe on Rick Bayless's website, but it doesn't have chipotle peppers and I am definitely adding some the next time I make it.

Anyway, my trick for hot peppers is to coat my hands with oil. Capsaicin, the substance that gives peppers their heat, is more soluble in oil than in water, so most of it seems to wash off with the oil when you wash your hands after handling the peppers.

[Jen]

You can tell Maddie that the funny/bad taste is likely the fire-roasted tomatoes in a can. I like almost every food but there's some part of that flavor that makes me feel oogy inside. Easily solved by just using other tomatoes. Otherwise this sounds great!

[Jen]

You can tell Maddie that the funny/bad taste is likely the fire-roasted tomatoes in a can. I like almost every food but there's some part of that flavor that makes me feel oogy inside. Easily solved by just using other tomatoes. Otherwise this sounds great!

[Rebecca]

I'd like to recommend a chopper (slap-chop or one of the pampered chef chopper things) to dice the onions into the micro-sized bits to assist in Logan not noticing their presence. Works great on my 4 year old too! :)

[AnnetteS]

It's okay, Melissa; I use the minced garlic from a jar too. MUCH easier. Even though it makes my significant other (who is a chef) wince in embarassment...... :)

[Ry Sal]

What did you do with the hunk of queso blanco? This all looks so yummy! And now I'm craving it at 10:12 in the morning. Thanks.

PS. Kind of cheesy and not really a thing I would do--but I did it anyway. I just awarded you "One Lovely Blog" http://www.forthebirdsblog.com/2009/10/call-it-fate-call-it-karma.html

[Brady's Mammy]

I made it last night and it was delish! my hint for cutting peppers is I cut with my right hand (and don't touch the pepper!) and I put my left hand in the plastic vegetable baggie from the grocery store to hold the pepper while I'm cutting and seeding.

[Nancy M.]

Thanks to Shelly North for the recommendation! I tried the Crockpot Chicken Tortilla soup, but just the first recipe, and it was delicious. We ate it all up and nothing's left for the soup! I must say, the crockpot chicken with sour cream and some hot sauce wrapped up in a tortilla was SO GOOD.

[GrandeMocha]

This sounds good! I bought a giant jar of the garlic. It costs the same amount as a tiny jar. It is all I ever use.

[Carolyn]

Wait, no tortillas in tortilla soup?

[sarah]

I'm scared I'm going to have a Maddie on my hands....granted mine is only 2 right now and they're notorious for subsisting on air.

Um also, "cook until fragrant" -- how in the hell was this helpful???

[Melissa Summers]

Well, smell it.

Sent from my iPhone with fat fingers on tiny keys.

On Oct 17, 2009, at 8:25 PM, typepad@sixapart.com wrote:

[Laura K.]

You really can't go wrong using a rotis. chicken in recipes. Such a great timesaver and pretty cheap, really! Can't wait to try the recipe!

[Tracy]

I love me some rotisserie chicken. Next time you feel like ripping a whole animal to shreds, put it in a crockpot with some BBQ sauce, then serve on buns. Yum.

[Jenny]

This sounds great. I'd eat it, especially with the avocado and cheese and other yummy stuff I see there.

My 2-year-old rejected mashed potatoes today. MASHED POTATOES. Food of the Bland Gods. As if I was trying to force-feed him raw liver or something. Sigh. Two is tough. Guess I better save the raw liver for when he's three.

[Kris]

I made this yesterday and it was great! Couldn't find any fire-roasted tomatoes so I bought diced tomatoes with green chilies -- oops. It was a little hot, so I just added more chicken broth. Thanks for sharing this!

[Liam's Grandma]

This looks and sounds fabulous. Except that my husband is a vegetarian. I am wondering if I could still make a good soup out of this with vegetable broth and various beans.

[Karen]

I think it looks great but would not go over with my picky, picky eater and my vegetarian (how did I get these kids???). Two things:

1. I have been searching for chipotle peppers in adobo sauce and can not find them, even a grocery store with an awesome international section. Any hints?

2. A nun once told me that in the word "separate" to remember that there is A RAT in there "sepARATe". One of the words most frequently spelled wrong. Those little tricks always help me.

[Dawn]

Karen...I spent weeks looking for chipotles in adobo sauce because I had a bunch of recipes that called for them, and there really is no substitute. Finally found them at Wegman's, which is a super nice grocery on the east coast. However, before that, I did locate them online and purchased a couple of cans there too. Lastly, if you have a Latin grocery in your area, they should certainly carry them.

Oh, and by the way, since I never, ever use a whole can at a time, I always freeze them after I open a can. Put 1-2 peppers with about a Tablespoon of adobo sauce in each baggie, since that is what most recipes call for.

[eluciq mama]

i made it and it was delicious...we added hominy in ours...my entire family ate it all up! i used a fork & knife to cut the peppers...which is a wonderful suggestion from one of your commenters.

i even posted the photos on my website of what our soup looked like. thanks for the great idea for dinner...LOVED it!

[Ana]

Do you use the poblanos raw? I've always seen them with the skin scorched in an open flame to peel them easier. Do you peel yours?

[Mars]

You totally have to appreciate where you can buy razors, cheese, beach towels AND a case of Sierra Nevada. No one blinks an eye.