Tuesday 1/27: Chicken Tortilla Soup

I used this recipe. My notes:

-I didn’t use shredded pre-roasted chicken. I had frozen chicken; I put the frozen pieces in a Pyrex bowl (2 small thighs and 2 large ½ boneless skinless breasts; I buy chicken when it’s cheap, de-skin if it has skin, wrap individually in waxed paper, and freeze, and these were “ends” of different packages I had in there), poured water in, seasoned with salt and pepper, covered with plastic wrap. Then I microwaved on high for 15 minutes, then let sit for ten. It came out perfectly poached. Instead of shredding I just did a rough dice. I figure it will fall apart cooking anyway.

-I forgot to get chicken broth when I was shopping at the big store. I walked with the kids to the little Armenian market but all they had was a tiny can; the recipe calls for about 3 of those. They were expensive (the American convenience foods tend to be expensive there; on the other hand, the meat, veggies, and imported brands are good and cheap) so I only got one. Poaching the chicken in the microwave solved my broth problem; I poured the liquid from the poaching out and got enough to equal about 2 more cans.

-I only found 2 decent tomatoes, and they were small, so I put those in and added an extra can of diced.

-I forgot to get an onion too. For once I’m out. So I used diced instead. I’m not worried because there’s extra liquid from the extra can of tomatoes.

-The store I went to didn’t have Anaheims in stock so I used Pasilla peppers instead. They have a similar heat level (mild) and are about the same size; the difference is that Anaheims are lighter green and have a brighter, slightly more bitter undertone while Pasillas are darker green and have a lower, muted fruitier undertone.

-I don’t keep Tobasco around and didn’t feel like buying it just for this. I upped the chipotle to a whole tsp. instead.

-While I was at it I doubled the cumin, because it just seemed like it could use more. (I really like cumin.)

-Since I was slicing the avocados ahead of time (and I did slice them, I think they look prettier that way than diced and also they maintain their integrity better in a bag) I put the juice of a lime in with them and shook around before sealing, in hopes they won’t turn completely brown.

-I also sliced up green onions in case anyone wants them. (Actually I did that the other day when I was doing the ones for the salad. Might as well do it all at once.)

I don’t usually like cilantro but I do like it in albondigas soup (ooh, that’s an idea; I bet I can do that in the crockpot!) and in curries, so since this recipe is almost a halfway point between those two flavors, I figured it will probably be good. If I get to taste any I’ll tell you!

This one is supposed to cook 5 hours on “High” but instead I will have him put it in right away for 4 hours on “High,” then it will go to “Warm” and they can get it whenever they are ready for dinner. The extra time on “Warm” should give it time for all the flavors to really meld.

Emma had fun helping me crush tortilla chips in a zipper bag. (I used about 2/3 of a bag. I was going to use those blue corn tortilla chips with flax seed in them for a little extra fiber, but the store I went to was out. So I just got the regular ones. She and Bridey also had fun helping “clean up” the avocado that got left in the skins when I scooped it out. ;)