Chicken Tortilla Soup

This is the time of year for soup.  Deep into winter, I crave the warm comfort that a good soup delivers on a dark, cold winter day.  There are a lot of soups that I make, many I have worked on perfecting over the years, but this one remains not only one of the most simple, but the most delicous as well.

This recipe was inspired by Tyler Florence.  Tyler, in case you have been living in a cave for the past decade or so, is a Food Network chef/star.  I started watching him in 2000 when I was pregnant with my daughter, who is now 11.  I had some pregnancy complications, and was on bed rest for couple of weeks, and once I got tired of regular daytime televison (maybe a day and a half in), I started watching the Food Network.  Emeril, Sara Moulton, Bobby Flay, Tyler...they took me away from my troubles and made me imagine the wonderful dishes I could create in the kitchen- once I wasn't carrying the weight of several bowling balls in my abdomen, that is.  That is what got me hooked on cooking shows.  I learned so much, from cooking terms to some unusual ingredients, to knife techniques.  Tyler was my favorite.  It didn't hurt that he is all kinds of cute, and defintitely has a way with the camera!  I have enjoyed many of his shows, but my favorite remains the original Food 911, where Tyler comes to the aid of some poor unsuspecting cook with a kitchen disaster and helps them turn out an incredible dish worthy of accolades.  On this one particular show, he did chicken soup 3 different ways.  I know that one was chicken tortilla soup, one was a Thai chicken soup, and I believe that the third was a classic chicken noodle, but I'm not positive on that.  In any case, the chicken tortilla soup really grabbed me.  I had never had anything like it before, and it looked wonderful.  Tyler, though, he is a by-the-book chef, and he did everything from scratch, right down to the chicken broth.  But heck, I am a full-time working mom of 2 kids- I don't have the kind of time it takes to do that kind of thing.  So I started to think about ways I might take his recipe and modify it to use convenience ingredients, to make it easier and less time-consuming.  I think I did a pretty decent job.  I have been making this soup for several years now, and it never fails to get praise.  This was the first time I tried in in a slow cooker however.  There is some prep involved, but once that is done, it just cooks in the slow cooker and you don't have to worry about it until it is time to eat.

Ingredients:

About 4 cups cooked chicken, shredded (note: you can use rotisserie chicken, or cook your own.  I braise bone-in chicken breasts in chicken broth with some sliced onions until cooked through, cool, then remove skin and bones and shred.  I strain the broth and reserve to use for the soup.)

1 onion, sliced (see instructions)

3-4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

1 chipotle pepper (canned in adobo sauce), chopped finely.  These come in a small can in the Mexican foods aisle of the grocery store, usually near the enchilada sauce.  I usually freeze the leftovers, and just use what I need a little at a time later.  They keep very well this way.

1 can diced tomatoes (I prefer the fire-roasted ones)

1 quart chicken broth

 Vegetable oil

4 corn tortillas, sliced (see below instructions)

Instructions:

1.  Slice onions.  This is how I do it:

Cut off the root and stem ends of the onion.

Peel skin off under cold running water (helps to prevent your eyes from tearing up.

Slice onion lengthwise into thin slices.

2.  Heat 2 tbsp. vegetable oil in a skillet until hot.  Add onions and reduce heat to medium.  Cook stirring often until onions are nicely browned and caramelized.

3.  Chop chipotle peppter into a fine mince.  Mince or press the garlic.

4.  Add garlic to onions and sautee 1 minute, being careful not to scorch garlic.  Remove from heat and dump onion mixture into slow cooker crock.

5.  Add chicken, broth, tomatoes, and chipotle pepper.  Stir to incorporate.  Cook on Low for 7 hours or High for about 4 hours.

 Note about the tomatoes: I like to puree mine with a stick blender.  You don't have to though.  If you don't want the tomato chunks without the work of pureeing them, you could use canned crushed tomatoes instead.

6.  While soup is cooking, slice up tortillas.  Stack tortillas and cut in half, then into strips

7.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Put tortilla strips on a baking sheet and drizzle with 1 tbsp. vegetable oil.  Toss to coat.  Separate tortilla strips and lay side by side on baking sheet, not touching.  Bake at 375 for 10-15 minutes or until golden and crispy.  Remove from oven, toss and sprinkle with salt.  Set aside.

8.  When soup is done, ladel into bowls.  Top with tortilla strips and some shredded cheddar cheese.  Other optional toppings:  sour cream, diced avocado, chopped cilantro.

This is kind of spicy, due to the chipotle pepper.  If you don't like spicy foods, just use half a pepper or so.

This is a very warm, satisfying soup.  If you don't want the work of making your own tortilla strips, you can use bagged tortilla chips.  This will really warm you up on a long winter day.  I like to make a big batch to last for several days, though it usually only lasts a couple in my house, between my husband and my 15 year old son!

I hope you enjoyed this- I have many more soup recipes, which I hope I can share before the winter is up.  The way the weather is looking here in the Pacific Northwest, that may be a good long time, so I should be able to post at least a couple more!  Next time, though, I think I will show you a favorite chicken dish at my house, one that my kids BEG for.  Happy cooking til then!

Turkey Kefta With Tzatziki

Hello!  Thanks to all of my friends who have given me such positive feedback on this blog, especially since there's really not much on it yet!  I am happy to be able to share with you my cooking adventures, and hope you continue to enjoy my posts here.

I am still working my way through a bunch of ground turkey that I bought last weekend, and though I know that the lettuce wraps I posted last time were made with ground turkey, I'm going to bore you with yet another recipe for it.  This is the reality of most home cooks- you need to use up what you have in the fridge before it goes bad!  Ground turkey is a great staple to keep around though- it's healthy, versatile, and tasty.  My issue with it is that I tend to stick to a lot of the old standbys:  spaghetti, chili, tacos, meatloaf.  Not that there is anything wrong with any of those- I just get bored making the same old things.  I was looking to try something different this time, so went in search of ideas.

I kind of had this idea in the back of my mind of a non-traditional meatball, maybe spiced with something out of the ordinary, and with a sauce other than the all-too-common tomato-based sauce.  I asked for ideas on a forum I frequent, and was intrigued by a couple of meatball-type recipes that were suggested there.  I love Greek food, and started thinking about maybe some type of Greek meatball.  They actually have a name- keftedes, and are traditionally made with ground lamb, beef, or a combination of the two.  I had also thought about maybe using some stronger spices, such as those found in Indian or Middle Eastern cooking, which were in mind of the recipes that were suggested by my forum friends.  Google is your friend; I learned that many countries from Morocco to the Middle East to India to Greece have some form of a spiced ground meatbal, or kefta.  Often these are served with pita bread and a yogurt-based sauce.  I love Tzatziki and have had it many times at Greek restaurants, so though this was a good direction to go.  I looked at several recipes, and as seems typical for me, ended up incorporating components of each of them to create my own recipe and method of cooking.

One recipe I looked at was this one for kefta, Middle Eastern spiced meatballs: 

http://www.whats4eats.com/meats/kefta-recipe

This seemed like a really good basic recipe.  It uses the traditional lamb and/or beef, but I didn't see any problem with substituting ground turkey.  I liked the sound of the spice mixture in this recipe, and also that it was simple and basic, a good foundation.  As far as the cooking method, it suggests that the meatballs be browned in a pan and finished in the oven.  I liked this, because browning on the stove top will give the meatballs great color and seal in the juices.  Finishing in the oven will allow them to cook through without drying them out.

Next, I found this recipe for Greek meatballs (keftedes) by Cat Cora at the Food Network website:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/cat-cora/keftedes-greek-meatballs-recipe/index.html

This recipe uses ground beef, but there were two things I liked about it.  One was that unlike the first recipe, milk-dipped bread was added to keep the texture of the meat tender.  Often when I cook with ground turkey (especially lean ground turkey), the texture can be tough and somewhat dry.  The bread will help the meat retain moisture and keep the texture soft and tender.  The other element of this recipe that appealed to me was that the meatballs are dusted with flour prior to browning on the stovetop.  This helps to seal in the juices, as well as create a crispy crust on the outside of the meatballs.

Finally, there was this recipe: http://www.chefalaporte.com/2010/01/greek-turkey-meatballs-keftedes/

This one actually does use ground turkey for the meatballs, but what I was most interested in for this one was the author's recipe for tzatziki, which is linked in the post.  Tzatziki is pretty basic- it is a mixture of yogurt, cucumber, lemon and garlic.  This recipe added dill, which I like a lot, and mint. Since I was using mint in the meatballs, I liked the idea of repeating it here.  I used his recipe as a guide, but used my own measurements (which were not really measurements at all, just adding stuff til it looked about right.)

So, research done, I assembled my meatballs.  One recipe (I forget which) suggested mixing up the meat and spices and refrigerating it for an hour before cooking.  I took the suggestion, and while I was waiting, made my tzatziki, as it, too, should be refrigerated for awhile before serving.  I also used this time to toss together a Greek salad of cucumber, tomato, kalamata olives, onion, and feta.  I also added some garbanzo beans that were in the fridge begging to be used before they went bad.  Normally I would make my own dressing of lemon, garlic and olive oil, but used Newman's Own Olive Oil and Vinegar dressing in order to save some time.

These meatballs are moist, spicy (though not hot) and extremely flavorful.  The tzatziki is a wonderful compliment to them, cool and tangy in contrast to the smokey flavor of the meat.  When I make these again, I will probably use a bit less cumin, as it is a very strong spice and tends to overpower the other flavors.  I still really liked these meatballs, and look forward to having them for lunch this week (assuming my husband leaves any for me!)

Turkey Kefta With Tzatziki

Makes 20-25 meatballs, depending on the size you roll them (mine were about pingpong-ball size).  4-5 meatballs makes a very decent serving size.

Ingredients (not all are pictured):

1 package (1.25 pounds) lean ground turkey (93% lean)

1/2 of a medium-large onion, minced

2 slices white whole-grain bread

Couple tbsp milk

2 cloves garlic, minced (I press mine in a garlic press)

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground allspice

Fresh mint leaves, chopped finely (I have some growing in my backyard.  I used the leaves from two sprigs.  You could use parsley instead.)

2 tbsp olive oil

Flour for dusting

Instructions:

1.  Combine turkey, onions, garlic, and spices in a large bowl.

2.  Place bread slices in a small bowl and drizzle milk over them.  Use your fingers to crumble bread and soak in the milk.  Press out any excess milk and discard.  Add moistened bread crumbs to bowl with other ingredients.

3.  Mix thoroughly with your hands.  Form into a large ball in the bowl, cover, and refrigerate for at least one hour.

4.  Line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper.  Spoon about 1/4 cup of flour onto a plate.  Roll 1-2 tbsp. of meat mixture to form a ball about ping-pong ball size.  Don't roll them too tightly- keeping them somewhat loose and not too compacted will keep them from becoming tough and rubbery.  Roll lightly in the flour, shaking off the excess.  Place on the lined baking sheet, and repeat until all of the meatballs have been formed.

5.  Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a large skillet over medim-high heat. When hot, add half of the meatballs to the pan, keeping at least an inch or two apart.  Allow to brown for a minute or two and then turn, continuing to do this until the meatballs are browned on all sides.

6.  Remove meatballs (carefully- they are delicate and may easily fall apart) from pan and place on a foil-lined baking sheet.  Add the other tbsp. olive oil to pan and brown the rest of the meatballs, then add to the prepared baking sheet.

7.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 12-15 minutes until cooked through.  Check with a meat thermometer, or just check a meatball with a fork.

 Serve with tzatziki (recipe below).  I served mine with the above-mentioned Greek salad and a side of couscous.  These would be good in a pita with the tzatziki, but I did not have any pita bread on hand.

Tzatziki

1 cup plain Greek yogurt (Note: all I had was regular non-fat plain yogurt.  I strained it through a tea towel-lined seive over a bowl for about an hour to remove some excess water, and it worked beautifully.  Place yogurt in lined seive and cover with some plastic wrap.  Place a heavy object- I used a 28 oz. can of tomatoes- on top of the plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator.  When strained, the yogurt will scrape right off of the tea towel into a bowl.)

About 1/3 of a cucumber, peeled and grated or finely chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, finely minced or pressed

2 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp dried dill

1-2 tbsp finely minced fresh mint

Couple dashes of salt

Mix all ingredients in a bowl.  Refrigerate at least one hour before serving.

I promise that next time I will post something that does not involve ground turkey!  Actually, I am roasting a spatchcocked chicken for dinner tonight, and might post that next.  Don't know what spatchcocked is?  Stay tuned to find out!