Tortilla Soup

About a year ago, I asked Ryan what he wanted for his birthday and he said "learn to make tortilla soup." Now there are two weird things about this. 1. I've almost never seen him eat or order tortilla soup, so the request came out of the blue. 2. He's got a weird sensitivity to chicken and chicken broth tends to bring on some of the worst reactions. As a result we tend to avoid things like chicken soup and at it's core, tortilla soup is a type of chicken soup.

In case you are unfamiliar, tortilla soup is a traditional Mexican preparation. The origins seem to be a little hazy but I suspect that it is rooted in good thrifty food practices by using leftover tortillas to stretch meat. In any case, it's traditional which basically means that there are tons of variations and every single one of them is the only "real" way to make it. It's a lot like BBQ that way.

At the time, I was at a little bit of a loss. I had a recipe. It made a decent soup but it wasn't anything special and it fell a little flat as a birthday present. I've been keeping my eye out ever since for a better recipe to try. I found one in Mark Bittman's Kitchen Matrix that looked a little more nuanced. He adapted his recipe from a restaurant's in Anthony, Texas.

As a general rule, a soup is only as good as its liquid. That doesn't mean that it needs to be complicated or hard. A good broth will often come from the ingredients of the soup itself simmered in plain water, but from experience tortilla soup tastes really thin without some attention to the broth. This recipe uses meaty chicken quarters fortified with beef bones. It makes a reasonable full stock with a nice color. This broth was the main difference between my two attempts and the extra effort showed.

All in all, I'm pleased with this one, but there is still room for improvement.

Tortilla Soup
Serves 4 to 6
2.5 pounds bone in chicken thighs and/or legs
1 pound beef bones
1 medium onion, quartered (skin on)
1 head garlic, halved through the middle to expose each clove
1/4 cup neutral oil
6 medium corn tortillas
Salt
2 Tbs. canned chipotle chiles in adobo
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 avocados, pitted peeled and cubed
4 to 8 oz plain melting cheese (mozzarella works fine)

1. put the chick, beef bones, 3 of the onion quarters, and the garlic in a large pot. Add water just to cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until chicken is very tender. (about an hour) Skim the foam off the top every once and a while.

2. Put vegetable oil in large skillet over medium heat. When hot but not smoking, fry 2 of the tortillas. Drain on paper towels. Cut the 4 remaining tortillas into strips. Add them to the skillet, and fry. Stir to keep them separate. Fry until crisp and golden. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with salt while still warm.

3. When chicken is tender, remove from the pot and let it cool. When cool enough, strip the meat from the bones. Discard both skin and bones and shred the meat.

4. Strain the broth to remove the solids. Discard the solids and return the broth to the pot. Peel the remaining onion quarter and put it in a blender with the chipotle, 1.4 cup of the cilantro, and a sprinkle of salt. Crumble in the two whole tortillas and add enough stock to fill the blender a little more than halfway. Puree until the mixture is as smooth as possible.

5. Pour the puree and remaining stock back into the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat so mixture simmers and cook for about 10 minutes. Stir in the shredded chicken, taste, and add more salt, if necessary. Serve with avocado, cheese, remaining 1/4 cup cilantro, and tortilla strips as garnishes.

The whole thing is a little time consuming, but it was good.