Green Chile Chicken Tortilla Soup: Soup with Sarah #1

This begins a series of posts devoted to soup!  My sweet friend Sarah Roxburgh and I have begun a mostly-weekly ritual of soup-making together, and each time we meet, I’ll be sharing a new soup recipe. Sarah married her soul-mate, Andrew, this past August. Theirs is a perfect love story, and the adventure continues as they will move to southern Scotland this June, back to Andrew’s homeland. As Andrew says, he was “raised on soup!” And Sarah is a wife eager to spoil her man with good things, and so we decided she should cook with me and get the hang of soups. Plus, it’s a great excuse to have some girl-time.

This particular recipe is a favorite in our family. Another standby from Claudia Anesi (mother of my dear friend, Jenny Anesi). It’s great for everything from a weeknight dinner to casual parties. It’s always a crowd pleaser. I like to use roasted green chiles which we buy at the Pueblo Chile Festival every September, but if you don’t have any roasted chiles on hand, just use some good canned chiles (look for something from New Mexico, like “Hatch” brand).  

Green Chile Chicken Tortilla Soup

recipe from Claudia Anesi

Ingredients:

• 1-2 Tbsp. regular olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 6 chicken bullion cubes (I actually use 6 tsp. organic Better Than Bullion chicken base)
• 3-4 large chicken breasts, bone in, skin removed
• 6 green onions, about 2 inches of green tips removed and sliced thin
• 2 medium tomatoes (roma works fine), diced
• 1 can (15 oz.) creamed corn (I have used fresh sweet corn cut off the kernel if it’s in season)
• 2-3 whole Pueblo Hot chiles, or 2 very small “cans” (about 4 oz.) diced green chiles
• 4 large carrots, sliced thin
• 3/4 cup uncooked rice
• a large brick of pepper jack cheese (or cheddar), cut into small cubes for garnish
• fresh cilantro leaves, left whole or roughly chopped for garnish
• crisp and thin corn tortilla chips, or home-made fried tortilla chips

Preparation:

1. In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium flame. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper, and brown the chicken in the olive oil on both sides. Once the chicken has some nice golden spots, add the green onions and sauté for a couple of minutes to soften them. Add the tomatoes and cook for another minute or so to develop flavor.
2. Fill the pot with 6-8 cups of water (or as needed to cover all ingredients by about 2 inches of water) and add the bullion, creamed corn, green chiles, carrots, and rice.
3. Bring soup to a boil over high heat, and then turn heat down to medium-low to simmer covered for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the chicken and cut the meat off the bone and roughly cube it. Discard bones and any fat, and return chicken pieces to the soup to simmer.
4. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve the hot soup sprinkled with cubes of pepper jack cheese, cilantro, and tortilla chips. (For a special treat, I like to slice corn tortillas into long strips and deep fry them in olive oil, sprinkle them with a good amount of salt, and serve them hot with the soup. If you are short on time, just use the best quality corn tortilla chips you can buy.)