Chicken Tortilla Soup

Are you curious to know who is at Walgreens at 4:00 a.m.?

Oh, never crossed your mind?

Well, now that I've peaked your interest I'll tell you.  There's a woman unusually fresh looking buying an extra large dr. pepper, 5 hour energy and a pack of cigarettes. Eek.

There's a man in casual business attire wafting in a huge cloud of cologne, checking out the Redbox.  He seemed very determined. Who doesn't need to know the latest dvd releases at 4 am on a Thursday morning. errr.

What does this have to with tortilla soup?

Absolutely nothing... besides the fact that I came upon this scene when I woke up at 4:00 am to a very fussy baby.  In my blurred state using the new flashlight feature on the iphone (love that), I fumbled around in the nursery trying to find a diaper.  None in the drawer... none in the overflow drawer... none in the storage under the crib.

What?! It's 4 a.m. and we ran out of diapers for the first time?

Thank the Lord for 24 hour Walgreens... especially those that you can see from your driveway.

Again, what does this have to do with tortilla soup you ask?  Still nothing... except for the fact that it is now 5 am and I'm wide awake and suddenly I have the time to tell you about this tortilla soup I made last weekend.

It's hearty, but light.  Packed with flavor and a tiny bit spicy.  It's meant for football watching Saturdays or stormy Sunday night suppers.  It is comfort in a bowl and loves being packed with crunchy-salty homemade corn tortilla strips, mounds of monterey jack cheese and smooth slices of avocado.

There a few steps to this one, which might also make it the perfect soup to whip up at 5 am when you are wide awake and you have already cleaned out your email inbox.  Don't be fooled though... I'm not making soup at 5 am... I'm just telling you about it.

While you will need a little time to make this soup, you can feed an army when you are finished or stock your freezer for another occasion.  It's delicious and totally worth it.

Let's talk about the process...

This recipe calls for grated onion.  Get out your cheese grater and get ready for an emotional, heart wrenching experience.  Okay, maybe not heart wrenching but as you grate this onion and open up every little porous pocket it has, you might find yourself in a pool of tears.  Everyone needs a good cry sometimes... just go with it.

I prefer to close my eyes, which only lessens the tears... it does not completely stop them.  But please, I beg you, open your eyes before you get to the end of the onion! No one needs bloody fingertips in their tortilla soup... and this could also cause real tears, which are sure to flow hard after you have opened up your tear ducts thanks to the onion.

If you leave a little onion at the end, just discard it or dice it up with a knife.

Once you start sauteeing your corn tortillas in garlic and cilantro, you will immediately be thrilled that you started out on this adventure.

Your house will immediately start to smell like a 90-year-old mexican grandmother lives there and does nothing, but cook up her tried and true family recipes all day long. Stir in all of your other ingredients and get things boiling.

Now your soup is ready to simmer and you are ready to make your fajita chicken.

Ah, and to my new favorite part. I have simply repeated the process we chatted about last week for skillet chicken, but in case you missed it, I'll go into the details again.

First, let's talk about the boneless skinless breast itself. They come in so many sizes these days... Sometimes I feel like they might have killed the hulk hogan of chickens by the size of the breast, but I try not dwell on the slaughtering of my dinner.

Go ahead and slice off anything that doesn't look like straight meat.  The last thing I want when I'm biting into a piece of chicken is a tough piece or a little red spot.  Take off any white veins or red spots.

If you get one of these honkers, we first want to slice it in half so that you have two thinner pieces of meat. If your is just a little on the fat side, but not this thick, you can pound it just a little bit instead of slicing it in half.

Next, slice it into strips. 

Now we are ready to marinate. I have one word for you... 

Liquid smoke!
Seriously, do you know about this stuff?
It has this hickory, smoky, roasting-all-day flavor that you just can't find anywhere else.  Let's be honest, I easily skip an ingredient or two sometimes in a marinade if I don't have it and surely I'm not the only one out there.  Do what you got to do, but do not miss this one.  You are going to want to have it in your back pocket for pretty much any meat you make from now so get yourself a bottle.  Okay, maybe not in your back pocket... get one drop of this stuff on your pants or anywhere and you might smell like a campfire for the next week and a half.

Oh, and don't skip the lime juice either.  Limey, hickory chicken...mmmm.

Next favorite part of this dish. All of that can be done ahead of time and when you are ready to cook, this will come together in less than five minutes while your soup is simmering.

Grab a skillet... Make that a good, cast iron skillet frying pan. I'm sure it can be done in a subsequent pan, but I believe there's a good sear and flavor that can only be found in the almighty frying pan. Add 1 tablespoon of canola oil to the pan and heat for one to two minutes on high heat... or medium high heat if you have one of those new fancy stoves that might melt your pan if you are not careful.

This is where the canola oil or corn oil is important because it has a high smoke point. Dainty olive oil will just not do it in this instance. I hear peanut oil or grapeseed oil will also do the trick, but I can only swear by canola or corn. Drain your chicken on a paper towel so that your chicken is not sitting in a pool or marinade and sprinkle with salt.

It doesn't have to be completely dry, but this will help you get a good sear on the meat. Add chicken to the hot skillet in a single layer. Depending on how much you are cooking, you will probably have to work in batches, but resist the urge to cook all the meat in one batch... you want each piece to get a nice sear on it.  Be careful not to burn yourself because the oil might be crackling. Allow to cook without moving for about a minute. When you pieces start to look a little brown, flip them over and let sear one to two minutes on the other side.  I use tongs and try to get each piece flipped, working quickly because these thin pieces will cook quickly.

Once seared on the second side, wrap in aluminum foil and allow to rest for five minutes.  Continue cooking the rest of your meat and add to the foil as each batch finishes.

A few notes about my process:

Slicing the chicken pre-marinade: Some recipes out the have you marinade the whole breast and cook it before slicing.  While it makes the process of searing each piece a little more fussy, I like that all sides of the slices were able to marinate giving you the most flavor possible.

Once your chicken is cooled, chop it up into nice bite size pieces.

After your soup has simmered, let's skim the fat off of the top.  See that spotty, clearish, red layer on top of the soup?

That is fat that is separating from the soup and you can skim that off the top. It looks like grease.  It definitely won't kill you, but soup is more appetizing without that layer.

Toppings time!

I never knew that those crispy fried strips of corn tortilla could possibly be the easiest thing in the world to make.  First, slice your corn tortillas in half and then cut every half inch in the other direction so that you are left with strips that are half the length of the tortilla (this is when pictures come in handy because I'm not even sure that explanation made sense to me... see below).

Heat a thin layer of corn oil over medium high heat in your frying pan (just give it a good wipe down after you are done making your chicken).  Test your heat by dropping one little strip of tortilla into the oil.  You want it to lightly sizzle.  If nothing happens, your oil is not hot enough... if it crackles loudly and turns your tortilla brown quickly, your oil is too hot.

Once you have a good sizzling temperature, toss in your tortilla strips.

Allow to fry two to three minutes and stir them gently.  Once they are golden brown, about five to seven minutes total,  remove to a paper towel and allow to drain. This takes a little bit of practice and I have definitely had batches that I fried till the point of pure burnt crispiness.  Sometimes I fry just one tortilla first to get the hang of it.   When the strips are nice and golden, remove to a paper towel to drain and sprinkle with salt while still hot.

Fried tortilla strips that have been cooled can be stored in an airtight container for up to five days.


Now serve up that delicious soup with avocado chunks, monterey or cheddar cheese and a dollop of sour cream.  Lime wedges and chopped cilantro make for nice extra toppings if you have some on hand.

From my little kitchen to yours... Enjoy. 

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Makes 12 servings

A note about the ingredient list:  Do not be overwhelmed by the long list.  A lot of the ingredients are listed twice because they are used in the marinade and soup.  Most ingredients are pantry items. You are going to have to trust me on this one and make the soup just once to see how easy it really is. 

A note about the grated onion:  If you do not want to grate the onion, you can also finely dice it with a knife.  But sometimes it feels great to get an arm workout while cooking.  Grating an entire onion means you can skip the gym for the day. 

Ingredients

For the Soup

3 tablespoons corn oil

6 corn tortillas, coarsely chopped

6 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1 medium white onion, grated (about 1 cup, give or take a ¼ of a cup)

2 cans (10 oz. can) Rotel tomatoes and green chiles, mild

1 can (15 oz. can) black beans, drained

12 oz frozen corn

1/2 tablespoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

3 whole bay leaves

4 tablespoons canned tomato paste

3 quarts (12 cups or 96 oz) chicken stock

1 quart (4 cups) water

salt and pepper

For the chicken

1 ½ lbs boneless skinless chicken breast


4 tablespoons fresh lime juice


1 1/2 teaspoon salt


4 tablespoons olive oil


1/2 teaspoon chili powder


1/2 teaspoon cumin


1 teaspoon garlic powder


2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

For the toppings

6 corn tortillas, cut into strips and fried

2 avocados, pitted and sliced

2 cups Monterey jack or Cheddar cheese

sour cream

chopped cilantro and lime wedges (optional)

Step by Step

Marinate the chicken.  Chicken breasts come in different sizes. If you have chicken breasts that are around a half pound each or more, you will want to slice them in half horizontally, so that the center thickness is around 1/2-inch to 3/4-inch thick. 

Mix all the marinade ingredients together in a glass or plastic container. Add the chicken, mix well, cover and let marinate at room temperature for 1 hour. (You can marinate them in the refrigerator for up to 8 hours, but remove them an hour before cooking so that they can come closer to room temp.)

Start the soup.  Heat corn oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Saute tortillas with garlic, onion and cilantro over medium heat until tortillas are soft, about 5 minutes.

Add cumin, chili powder, bay leaves, 3 teaspoons of salt, Rotel, black beans, corn and chicken stock.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer. Simmer for 45 minutes, uncovered.  Skim fat from surface, if necessary.

While the soup is simmering, make the chicken and corn tortilla strips. 

To make the chicken, remove it from the marinade. Wipe off most of the marinade and sprinkle the chicken pieces with salt.

Heat a large cast iron frying pan on high heat for 1 to 2 minutes. Add a tablespoon of canola oil (or other high smoke point oil) to the pan. As soon as the oil begins to smoke, lay the chicken slices in the pan. Lay pieces in the pan in one layer, trying not to crowd the pan so that the chicken can sear.  Let the chicken cook undisturbed for 2-3 minutes, until you have a good sear. Once seared well on one side, turn the pieces over and cook for another 1-2 minutes until well seared on the second side.

Once seared on the second side, remove to a cutting board and cover with aluminum foil to rest for 5 minutes. If you want to test for doneness, cut into one piece with the tip of a sharp knife. It should be just done, if not, you can put it back in the hot pan for a minute or two.

To make the corn tortilla strips, wipe out the cast iron skillet with a paper towel. Heat a thin layer of corn oil over medium high heat. Lightly fry tortilla strips in oil.  Remove strips when they are golden brown and allow to drain on a paper towel to remove excess oil.  Lightly sprinkle with salt and allow to cool.

Back to the soup… check the taste and add additional seasoning if needed.  Add extra salt to taste or add chili powder for extra spice.  Stir and allow to simmer for another 30 minutes.  Turn off the heat, remove the bay leaves and allow the soup to sit for 20 to 30 minutes. 

Serve soup with chunks of avocado, Monterey Jack or Cheddar cheese, sour cream, crispy corn tortilla strips and chopped cilantro and lime wedges.

Refrigerate leftover soup in an airtight container for up to four days.   

Skillet Chicken

My life has been changed. I'm a little happier in the evenings. I feel like the possibilities are endless. Don't worry this is not another story about this 6 month old that has also changed my life (but boy, do I love talking about her). 

It's a story about this skillet chicken and how I'm ready for you to take it in to your kitchen and be giddy at dinner time because you can easily make the best and most versatile chicken any home kitchen has ever seen. I was in a chicken rut big time. We have a charcoal grill so firing it up on a weeknight for two pieces of meat seemed exhausting. I've pan seared so many chicken breasts in olive oil that I could do it in my sleep. I love a good boneless skinless chicken breast, but was bored with any past preparations. Enter the skillet chicken! (Yes, I've officially arrived at the point).

Let's talk about the method and then I'll delve into all the ways I have worked it into dinner.

Blueberry Cupcakes with Lemon Glaze

I'm learning to adapt to a new way of life.  Most of my new skills now involve doing things with one hand.  I've almost mastered typing on the computer with just my left hand, I've developed a system of getting dressed with one side of my body accessible at a time, and most importantly, I'm learning to eat one handed all while I have a wiggly 13 pounder in my other arm.



















The key to my new eating style revolves around easy, unfussy foods.  Having these muffins/cupcakes in the fridge might be one of the best things that has ever happened to me.

Toasted Almond Quinoa

Who came up with the phrase sleeps like a baby? I would love to meet that person. Better yet, I'd love to meet their baby. If I was using a phrase to describe how my baby sleeps, it might be more along the lines of sleeps like a hyena or maybe a circus.  There is more grunting and whimpering than I would have ever imagined, and this does not line up with the angelic image I had in my mind of a silent peaceful sleeping baby.

Spaghetti Pie

If you happened to have visited this little kitchen in the early days, you were subjected to dark and yellowy pics and you were assaulted by too many exclamation points. I still have a ways to go on my photography and I'm still excited about food... however, I've picked up a trick or two to make this food look as good as it tastes, and I've found other ways to express my enthusiasm.

Lemon Strawberry Pound Cake

This cake will forever have a special place in my heart.  If you read my last post, you can see why.  What was originally intended to be a tasty treat at Easter brunch, turned into a birthday cake for our sweet little Lilly who decided she wanted to be born on Easter.

fresh from the oven.

I am overjoyed to introduce Lillian Ashlea Taylor, born on Easter Sunday, March 31 at 4:16 p.m.  weighing 8 lbs. and 6 ounces.

This little cupcake is more fun than I could have ever imagined.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Hi there...

Where to start?  What to say about the last month and a half?  I could start by saying I am taking my resolution from my pancake chat really seriously.  I have slowed down big time in some ways or at least I'm trying to savor time.  My version of "savoring" mostly involves naps and trying to do spontaneous things that might get a little harder come April.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Well, hello there 2013. 

We’ve only been here a day and already I feel like it’s going to be a good one.  I love a new year.  I love thinking about what might happen or what could be in store. I’m still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that in this year, we will become a family of three.  There’s always unknowns on January 1 of what is to come, but the anticipation of meeting this little bambino is more than I could have imagined.

In the meantime, I’m trying to stop time.  As much as the future excites me,  I know these quiet moments when it is just the two of us will be fond memories and we can never go back.   So my immediate new year’s resolution is to slow down a bit and take it all in. 

I want to take more naps.  See a few movies.  Take long baths.   Go out to dinner while there is no thought of having to get a baby sitter.  Take a few spontaneous trips.  Sleep late on the weekends and make more pancakes.

Holiday Favorites

From top left:  Candy Centered Chocolate Cookies// Chocolate Crackle Cookies// 
Pecan Rolo Pretzel Bites// Oreo Truffles// Soft and Chewy Gingerbread Men

Merry Christmas my friends.  

Christmas is coming in five days and that feels a little bit shocking.  Mostly shocking because not a bit of extra butter or sugar has whipped itself into any holiday baking this year in my kitchen.  I've had my fair share of caramels and cookies and chocolate covered things.  I just can't say I made any of them myself.  It's been a wonderful but very busy month, which has not left time for the all important gingerbread man. 

I still have high hopes of doing some baking this year, but in the meantime I wanted to share some of my past favorites.  Hope you are having a very merry Christmas season.

From my little kitchen to yours... Merry Christmas.  

Orange Rolls

Finally, it's December.

I don't think I have ever said that before, but last week just really threw me for a loop.  A whole extra week in November after Thanksgiving?  It just didn't feel like the holidays.  I mean it's still 80 degrees here, but there's no telling how long that will last.  At least we can flip the calendar and start counting down.  So let's start baking treats that only seem legal during the holidays.

Giveaway! Lucky Girl Hair Tie Holiday Set- Closed

No matter what skills you have or don't have in the kitchen, there is one thing that will ruin any meal... yep, that's right, hair in your food.

Kind of a gross concept so let's not dwell on it.

Let's just move on to the solution.  Sure any plain old rubber band will work but I like to take any opportunity to jazz things up.  Enter Lucky Girl Hair Ties.  The ties are showing up all over the place, but you can't beat the selection and price of this Etsy shop.

UPDATE- WINNERS
Congrats to Brittni and Shelley!

Ham & Cheddar Potato Soup

When you send your husband to the grocery store and there is a severe and expensive mistake made in the deli department, it is hard to know who is to blame.

Cranberry Apricot Brie

There are two situations that you could in find yourself in on this Thanksgiving Eve that could make this recipe quite worth your while.

Perfect Pumpkin Pie with Rum Whipped Cream

It seems as if I have disappeared again.  But this time, the delay has come from an important culinary cause... finding the perfect pumpkin pie.  It actually started with pumpkin donut holes in October, which finally got discarded after 3 variations were still not the best.

I moved on to this important Thanksgiving staple in hopes I could find a perfect combo by the big day.

A Wedding Cake Roller Coaster... the novel.

Here's to hoping that someone out there subscribes to the wonderful saying better late than never. 

To catch you up to speed or jog your memory, I made a wedding cake for 150 people this summer.  With few baking skills to claim and an ambitious attitude, I took on this project and it turned out to be quite the undertaking.  Without further ado, here is the wedding cake story...

bun(s) in the oven.

I'm pretty sure last weekend will become a permanent life/food memory.

Definition of life/food memory:  When you eat something amazing that happens to be on a perfect day so that the combination of the day and food will forever be remembered if you ever taste the food again.  

Examples: 

Eating a clown cone from Baskin Robbins... immediately takes me back to my eighth birthday where I chose to have these cones instead of a cake.  Really great decision and the day is forever engrained in my head.  

Having a bite of Texas cornbread (need to share the recipe soon)... immediately envision my mushroom haircut-self, wearing a cowboy hat and my favorite red boots, on Go Texan Day in first grade thoroughly enjoying our authentic Cowboy meal. 

Are you with me?  Come on, I know you have some. 

I made these cinnamon buns on a day that I will never forget.  I felt good/normal for the first time in three months, and it was one of the first fall afternoons in Houston where you have to be happy because you are not sweating when you walk to your car.  It is totally engrained.

Now back to that three months of not being here.  Where have I been might you ask?  Trying my hardest to get through each and every day while feeling so nauseous, I wanted to do nothing but cry... not even eat.

I've got a bun in the oven too and it has completely taken me under for a full three months.   So if any of you out there have experienced "morning" sickness morning, noon and night I can totally sympathize with you.  Hallelujah, it is gone for the most part or at least only hits me in waves.  So as you can see, these buns were made on a very historic day for.  Living through three months of misery and finally feeling semi normal again and wanting to cook was a huge and wonderful day in my book.

This surprise little bun is due on April 10, 2013 and we couldn't be happier.

Until then, let's make cinnamon buns!

Avocado Cucumber Soup

I owe you a story... and oh, is it a long one. 

I just have this one problem.  I've been so hot lately I just can't think.  

It's blazing outside and I'm totally blaming my slowness and total lack of concentration on this blasted heat. Yep, I blame the heat for my exhaustion that leaves me little to no energy to do anything but lay on the couch, drink Coconut La Croix and watch Real Housewives reruns.  It's simply not my fault.  

Wedding Cake Project....Complete!!

Hallelujah.  Praise the Lord.  Amen. 

Summer Berry Pie

I'm in frosting up to my knees.  The Wedding Cake Project is closing in on me in less than 48 hours.  My house has been a hot box for the past couple of days baking layers and layers of cake.  Note to self, next time you agree to bake a multi layered cake, make sure it is in the dead of winter.

Enough about me, let's talk about you and how you need to get in on the best thing going right now... summer berries. Back to me real quick... prayers I need lots of prayers. 


It might be past the primetime of the summer for red, white and blue but this little pie is still perfect all summer long.