Tortilla Soup from Cook's Illustrated

On Thu, 01 Dec 2005 02:54:01 GMT, "King's Crown" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

It was good, but not wonderful. I spent 2 1/2 hours making it and it
required my attention every minute. Does anyone here have a TNT Tortilla
soup recipe?

Well, I won't claim it's dyn-o-mite, but here's what I've come up
with. (measurements are inexact, adjust for how much soup you need to
feed everyone:

Tortilla Soup Casa Jason

chicken, cooked and shredded
chicken broth
tortillas, freshly fried is best but use the supermarket tostadas
(unsalted) in a pinch
avocado, in chunks
serrano or jalapeno chilis, sliced into rounds
green onion, cut into strips
garlic, diced
cheese, diced queso fresco, monterey jack, cheddar, fontina, it's all
good, diced or shredded
tomato, diced (one roma would be sufficient for several cups of soup)
cilantro, chopped
cumin seed, go lite with this,lighter yet if powdered
mexican oregano, regular if you can't find Mexican, again lightly it c
can overwhelm
limes
salt, pepper

Heat soup pot, add oil, when hot add diced onion and saute until
translucent, add diced garlic, some of the chili rounds, the cumin and
oregano, and finally the diced tomato and some of the cilantro and
saute just a little more. Don't burn the garlic.

Add the broth and bring to a simmering boil. Simmer for 10 - 15
minutes then add the chicken and squeeze in some lime juice. Season
with salt and pepper. Watch the salt if the broth is already salty.

In large bowls, break up the tortilla chips into bite-size pieces,
sprinkle with the rest of the chilis, cilantro, cheese, green onion,
and avocado. Pour the hot soup into the bowls dividing the chicken
evenly. The hot broth will melt the cheese and warm the avocado.
Squeeze in a little more lime juice and serve (with extra lime slices
if you like).

In article <[email hidden]>,

King's Crown said:

It was good, but not wonderful. I spent 2 1/2 hours making it and it
required my attention every minute. Does anyone here have a TNT Tortilla
soup recipe?

Lynne

TNT? Like big time hot? Add more hot sauce.
Do a Google groups search with Nancy Young's name as author. Joan
Lunden's recipe, I think, is the basis. I think Joan Lunden was -- oh,
[censored], here:
* Exported from MasterCook Mac *

Spicy Chicken Tortilla Soup

Recipe By : Nancy Young gets the credit
Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Soups

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 chopped medium onion (about 1 cup) and
2 minced garlic cloves (about 2 tsps) in
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

4 ounces can chopped green chiles
15 ounces can Italian-style stewed tomatoes (chopped
and with their own juice)
4 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon lemon pepper
2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce

4 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup water

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts -- cut into
small cubes

1/3 cup non-fat sour cream

4 corn tortillas

In a large saucepan, cook the onion and garlic in the oil over low heat
for 5 minutes until onion is softened. Add next group of ingredients.
Simmer for 20 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine flour with water and whisk into soup. Bring the
soup back to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.

Add 1 pound skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut into small cubes.

Simmer for 5 minutes.

Stir in 1/3 cup non-fat sour cream, salt, and pepper to taste.

Cut 4 store-bought corn tortillas into 1/4 inch strips. Lay them on a
baking sheet with nonstick vegetable oil spray. Bake in a 400 degree
oven for 10 minutes or until they are lightly toasted and crispy.
Sprinkle lightly with salt if desired. Garnish strips across the top of
the finished soup with fresh coriander.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Per serving (excluding unknown items): 1434 Calories; 49g Fat (31%
calories from fat); 160g Protein; 83g Carbohydrate; 273mg Cholesterol;
7263mg Sodium
Food Exchanges: 5 Starch/Bread; 19 1/2 Lean Meat; 6 Fat

NOTES : Nancy Young has posted this to r.f.c. more than once, I think.
Originally from Good Morning America's Joan Lunden. Made it 1-4-05 --
a rousing success. I used another 1-1/2 cups chicken broth and about 12
ounces of cooked chicken -- it was plenty of chicken meat in the soup.
Also added a tablespoon of lime juice and more hot sauce than
specified--used some of George Shirley's wicked stuff. It was just hot
enough!

_____
--
http://www.jamlady.eboard.com, updated 11-28-05 - Sam I Am! and Hello

King's Crown said:

It was good, but not wonderful. I spent 2 1/2 hours making it and it
required my attention every minute. Does anyone here have a TNT Tortilla
soup recipe?

Lynne

The L.A. Times food section had an article today about tortilla soup,
complete with several recipes. Go to latimes.com, click on Food in the
sections listed on the left column of the page and the story is called
"A Bowl of Mexican Soup." -aem

aem said:

King's Crown said:

It was good, but not wonderful. I spent 2 1/2 hours making it and it
required my attention every minute. Does anyone here have a TNT
Tortilla soup recipe?

Lynne

The L.A. Times food section had an article today about tortilla soup,
complete with several recipes. Go to latimes.com, click on Food in
the sections listed on the left column of the page and the story is
called "A Bowl of Mexican Soup." -aem

Oddly enough, I want more (canned) menudo. Oddly enough, I turned the
channel the other night and found an episode of 'Sanford & Sons' and they
were talking about menudo 🙂

Jill

"King's Crown" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

It was good, but not wonderful. I spent 2 1/2 hours making it and it
required my attention every minute. Does anyone here have a TNT Tortilla
soup recipe?

Lynne

I am not familiar with the Cooks Illustrated version of Tortilla Soup but I
cobbled together a recipe to make use of leftover turkey and the turkey
carcass. It was inspired by a recipe I found on Epicurious from the Cafe
Annie restaurant in Huston. It turned out extremely well garnished with
avocado relish, fresh lime juice and grated chihuahua cheese. I doubled and
modified the original recipe but it can be found on Epicurious as "Tortilla
Soup with Avocado Relish". I am a fan of Rick Bayless's style Mexican
cooking which frequently calls for charring unpeeled garlic etc. to achieve
a smoky effect. This recipe makes this easier by putting peeled garlic,
onions and tomatoes under the broiler to achieve this satisfying result.
This recipe calls for toasted dried chiles, reconstituted in hot water then
pureed with the charred vegetables. This adds a huge flavor dimension over
merely adding chile powder etc.

Home made poultry stock - 4 quarts (mine was turkey carcass plus lots of
onions, carrots, celery, bay leaves, parsley etc. slow simmered then
strained and defatted) substitute home made chicken stock or low sodium
canned stock doctored by simmering for 1 hour with some onion, carrots and
celery or whatever vegetables you have that are thinking of going bad in the
near future.
8 cloves garlic
2 lbs ripe plum tomatoes or two cans (28 oz) canned plum tomatoes
1 large white onion coarsley chopped (about 1 1/2 to 2 cups)
4 to 6 dried chile peppers (I used 2 ancho, 2 guajillo and 1 mulato as
that's what I had on hand. I think the combination was very fortuitous and
gave the soup a nice depth with out being excessively spicy hot. Add hotter
dried peppers or perhaps add some chipotle in adobo for more heat and a
little smoke.
2 tsp dried oregano (or more to taste)
1 tsp toasted cumin seeds, ground or substitute ground cumin and adjust
amount to taste
12 to 18 fresh 5 to 6 inch tortillas (I used corn)
corn or peanut oil (I baked the tortillas brushed with oil. The recipe I
started with deep fried them in oil at 375 degrees for 30 seconds to 1
minute)
3 cups or more shredded roasted turkey meat (We used all of the leftover
turkey so I'm guestimating the amount you can substitute cooked chicken)

Avocado relish
3 ripe California avocados
1 small vine-ripened tomato, diced
2/3 cup finely chopped white onion (about 1/2 onion)
1 to 2 fresh serrano chilies, minced using rubber gloves
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro sprigs
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black peppercorns

Garnish
Grated Chihuahua cheese
lime wedges
cilantro sprigs (optional)
sour cream (optional)

Preheat broiler.
Coarsely chop onion. In a well-seasoned 9-inch cast-iron or other heavy
ovenproof skillet arrange onion, tomatoes, and garlic in one layer and broil
about 2 inches from heat, turning vegetables occasionally with tongs, until
tomato skins are blistered and lightly charred, about 20 minutes. Cool
vegetables.

While vegetables are broiling, remove stems, seeds, and ribs from chilies
(wear rubber gloves). Heat a dry griddle or heavy skillet over moderate heat
until hot but not smoking and toast chilies, 1 or 2 at a time, pressing down
with tongs, a few seconds on each side, or until more pliable. Transfer
chilies as toasted to a bowl. Cover chilies with hot water and soak about 20
minutes, or until soft.

Drain chilies, discarding soaking liquid, and in a blender purée with
vegetable mixture until smooth.

Cut 12 tortillas into quarters and cut remaining 4 to 6 tortillas into
1/4-inch-wide strips. At this point I digressed from the recipe and
pre-heated my oven to 375F. I brushed the tortilla pieces with oil and
placed on a baking sheet in a single layer and baked for about ten minutes
until crisp. Crush tortilla quarters in a heavy duty ziplock bag with a
rolling pin. The tortilla strips will be used as garnish.

In a 5-quart heavy kettle bring stock and chili pur?e to a boil, stirring.
Stir in crushed tortillas, oregano, and salt and simmer, uncovered, whisking
occasionally, until tortillas are soft and soup is slightly thickened, 30 to
45 minutes. Taste and season soup with kosher salt and pepper.

While soup is simmering:
Peel and pit avocados and cut avocados into 1/4-inch dice. In a bowl gently
stir together avocados, tomato, onion, chilies, and remaining relish
ingredients until combined well.

When ready to serve ladle soup into bowls top with a dollop of avocado
relish, tortilla strips, grated cheese and optional sour cream and cilantro.

Enjoy!

Kate

Kate said:

I am not familiar with the Cooks Illustrated version of Tortilla Soup but
I cobbled together a recipe to make use of leftover turkey and the turkey
carcass.

<snip>

Quoted message said:

When ready to serve ladle soup into bowls top with a dollop of avocado
relish, tortilla strips, grated cheese and optional sour cream and
cilantro.

Wow! Thanks, Kate!

Bob

J. Eric Durbin said:

On Thu, 01 Dec 2005 02:54:01 GMT, "King's Crown" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

It was good, but not wonderful. I spent 2 1/2 hours making it and it
required my attention every minute. Does anyone here have a TNT Tortilla
soup recipe?

Well, I won't claim it's dyn-o-mite, but here's what I've come up
with. (measurements are inexact, adjust for how much soup you need to
feed everyone:

Tortilla Soup Casa Jason

chicken, cooked and shredded
chicken broth
tortillas, freshly fried is best but use the supermarket tostadas
(unsalted) in a pinch
avocado, in chunks
serrano or jalapeno chilis, sliced into rounds
green onion, cut into strips
garlic, diced
cheese, diced queso fresco, monterey jack, cheddar, fontina, it's all
good, diced or shredded
tomato, diced (one roma would be sufficient for several cups of soup)
cilantro, chopped
cumin seed, go lite with this,lighter yet if powdered
mexican oregano, regular if you can't find Mexican, again lightly it c
can overwhelm
limes
salt, pepper

Heat soup pot, add oil, when hot add diced onion and saute until
translucent, add diced garlic, some of the chili rounds, the cumin and
oregano, and finally the diced tomato and some of the cilantro and
saute just a little more. Don't burn the garlic.

Add the broth and bring to a simmering boil. Simmer for 10 - 15
minutes then add the chicken and squeeze in some lime juice. Season
with salt and pepper. Watch the salt if the broth is already salty.

In large bowls, break up the tortilla chips into bite-size pieces,
sprinkle with the rest of the chilis, cilantro, cheese, green onion,
and avocado. Pour the hot soup into the bowls dividing the chicken
evenly. The hot broth will melt the cheese and warm the avocado.
Squeeze in a little more lime juice and serve (with extra lime slices
if you like).

From the lack of response, I'd guess it was far from "dyn-o-mite".
Maybe your family likes it.

On Thu, 01 Dec 2005 17:51:54 GMT, "Kate B" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

"King's Crown" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

It was good, but not wonderful. I spent 2 1/2 hours making it and it
required my attention every minute. Does anyone here have a TNT Tortilla
soup recipe?

Lynne

I am not familiar with the Cooks Illustrated version of Tortilla Soup but I
cobbled together a recipe to make use of leftover turkey and the turkey
carcass. It was inspired by a recipe I found on Epicurious from the Cafe
Annie restaurant in Huston. It turned out extremely well garnished with
avocado relish, fresh lime juice and grated chihuahua cheese. I doubled and
modified the original recipe but it can be found on Epicurious as "Tortilla
Soup with Avocado Relish". I am a fan of Rick Bayless's style Mexican
cooking which frequently calls for charring unpeeled garlic etc. to achieve
a smoky effect. This recipe makes this easier by putting peeled garlic,
onions and tomatoes under the broiler to achieve this satisfying result.
This recipe calls for toasted dried chiles, reconstituted in hot water then
pureed with the charred vegetables. This adds a huge flavor dimension over
merely adding chile powder etc.

Home made poultry stock - 4 quarts (mine was turkey carcass plus lots of
onions, carrots, celery, bay leaves, parsley etc. slow simmered then
strained and defatted) substitute home made chicken stock or low sodium
canned stock doctored by simmering for 1 hour with some onion, carrots and
celery or whatever vegetables you have that are thinking of going bad in the
near future.
8 cloves garlic
2 lbs ripe plum tomatoes or two cans (28 oz) canned plum tomatoes
1 large white onion coarsley chopped (about 1 1/2 to 2 cups)
4 to 6 dried chile peppers (I used 2 ancho, 2 guajillo and 1 mulato as
that's what I had on hand. I think the combination was very fortuitous and
gave the soup a nice depth with out being excessively spicy hot. Add hotter
dried peppers or perhaps add some chipotle in adobo for more heat and a
little smoke.
2 tsp dried oregano (or more to taste)
1 tsp toasted cumin seeds, ground or substitute ground cumin and adjust
amount to taste
12 to 18 fresh 5 to 6 inch tortillas (I used corn)
corn or peanut oil (I baked the tortillas brushed with oil. The recipe I
started with deep fried them in oil at 375 degrees for 30 seconds to 1
minute)
3 cups or more shredded roasted turkey meat (We used all of the leftover
turkey so I'm guestimating the amount you can substitute cooked chicken)

Avocado relish
3 ripe California avocados
1 small vine-ripened tomato, diced
2/3 cup finely chopped white onion (about 1/2 onion)
1 to 2 fresh serrano chilies, minced using rubber gloves
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro sprigs
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black peppercorns

Garnish
Grated Chihuahua cheese
lime wedges
cilantro sprigs (optional)
sour cream (optional)

Preheat broiler.
Coarsely chop onion. In a well-seasoned 9-inch cast-iron or other heavy
ovenproof skillet arrange onion, tomatoes, and garlic in one layer and broil
about 2 inches from heat, turning vegetables occasionally with tongs, until
tomato skins are blistered and lightly charred, about 20 minutes. Cool
vegetables.

While vegetables are broiling, remove stems, seeds, and ribs from chilies
(wear rubber gloves). Heat a dry griddle or heavy skillet over moderate heat
until hot but not smoking and toast chilies, 1 or 2 at a time, pressing down
with tongs, a few seconds on each side, or until more pliable. Transfer
chilies as toasted to a bowl. Cover chilies with hot water and soak about 20
minutes, or until soft.

Drain chilies, discarding soaking liquid, and in a blender purée with
vegetable mixture until smooth.

Cut 12 tortillas into quarters and cut remaining 4 to 6 tortillas into
1/4-inch-wide strips. At this point I digressed from the recipe and
pre-heated my oven to 375F. I brushed the tortilla pieces with oil and
placed on a baking sheet in a single layer and baked for about ten minutes
until crisp. Crush tortilla quarters in a heavy duty ziplock bag with a
rolling pin. The tortilla strips will be used as garnish.

In a 5-quart heavy kettle bring stock and chili pur?e to a boil, stirring.
Stir in crushed tortillas, oregano, and salt and simmer, uncovered, whisking
occasionally, until tortillas are soft and soup is slightly thickened, 30 to
45 minutes. Taste and season soup with kosher salt and pepper.

While soup is simmering:
Peel and pit avocados and cut avocados into 1/4-inch dice. In a bowl gently
stir together avocados, tomato, onion, chilies, and remaining relish
ingredients until combined well.

When ready to serve ladle soup into bowls top with a dollop of avocado
relish, tortilla strips, grated cheese and optional sour cream and cilantro.

Enjoy!

Kate

This looks great! Much better than that other recipe in this thread.
I'm going to give this a try.

Melba's Jammin said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

King's Crown said:

It was good, but not wonderful. I spent 2 1/2 hours making it and it
required my attention every minute. Does anyone here have a TNT Tortilla
soup recipe?

Lynne

TNT? Like big time hot? Add more hot sauce.
Do a Google groups search with Nancy Young's name as author. Joan
Lunden's recipe, I think, is the basis. I think Joan Lunden was -- oh,
[censored], here:
* Exported from MasterCook Mac *

Spicy Chicken Tortilla Soup

(recipe snipped)

I tried the recipe today using the leftover turkey and turkey broth
from Thanksgiving. Pretty good. The DH thinks it would be better
with chicken, but managed to eat a couple of bowls of this. Definitely
on my repeat list.
--
Susan N.

"Moral indignation is in most cases two percent moral,
48 percent indignation, and 50 percent envy."
Vittorio De Sica, Italian movie director (1901-1974

"The Cook" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

On Wed, 30 Nov 2005 22:15:46 -0600, Melba's Jammin'
<[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

TNT? Like big time hot? Add more hot sauce.
Do a Google groups search with Nancy Young's name as author. Joan
Lunden's recipe, I think, is the basis. I think Joan Lunden was -- oh,
[censored], here:

Oh! I just saw this, cool!

Quoted message said:

I tried the recipe today using the leftover turkey and turkey broth
from Thanksgiving. Pretty good. The DH thinks it would be better
with chicken, but managed to eat a couple of bowls of this. Definitely
on my repeat list.

That's great! And I agree with your husband, I think it would be better
with chicken, too, but hey. It's one of Mr. Libido Incognito's and my
favorite soups when it gets nasty out. Last time I made it, I made it a
little too hot, tears/runny nose, the whole deal. Whew!

I also make it with hot Italian sausage in place of the chicken sometimes.

nancy