Friday, January 16, 2015

South Of The Border

As the winter rolled around and days were shorter, darker, and colder (although we really can't complain here), I got into a mood for soup. My blogging pal, Greg, was on yet another cruise to Mexico, making me jealous as heck. I was also indulging in more than one pre-roasted chicken from the market to lighten my 3X daily stints in the kitchen cooking for my "Flat Boy." Any port in a storm, right?

Anyway, the plus of a roasted chicken is that you have the bones left over to make soup. This time, I wanted a version of Tortilla Soup (which, by the way, if you've never seen the movie by that name, rent it NOW - it's delightful) with wonderful Mexican flavors and ingredients.

The chicken broth I made from simmering those bones for several hours was so strong it jelled in the fridge after I strained out the bones and set aside the meat for the soup. That made it easy to remove most of the fat that had risen to the top and solidified so the resulting broth was clear and sweet.

For veggies, I sautéed some onion and garlic, then added diced carrot until it was tender, added the broth and the chicken meat to heat, and at the last minute added strips of Swiss chard, chunks of avocado and fresh chopped cilantro. I passed a bottle of Cholula to spice up the soup and sprinkled crushed tortilla chips on top for texture. All it needed was a tad of salt, as the chips weren't very salty.

Steaming hot, it warmed from the inside out. It wasn't quite as good as a luxurious cruise to warm ports of call South of the Border but, well, ¡olé! anyway, Greg, and I hope you had a fine time!

8 Comments:

Blogger Katie Zeller said...

When I made turkey stock from the Christmas bird the same thing happened. Makes for a luscious soup. BTW, mon mari does the same thing with chili... I force it on him, then he eats it all. Glad all is back to normal at your house

Friday, January 16, 2015  
Blogger Zoomie said...

Katie, I wish we were back to normal but MB is still flat on his back with sciatica for about 23 hours a day. He has made improvement, but it's a long slog. Still, at least I have time to take a picture of what I serve and to post it up here - progress! :-)

Friday, January 16, 2015  
Blogger Unknown said...

Looks really good with the avo, I was afraid they would turn brown with the heat...

Friday, January 16, 2015  
Blogger Zoomie said...

Whiting, no, they don't - at least not in the brief time between adding and consuming. :-)

Friday, January 16, 2015  
Blogger Diane said...

love the richness of both made with bones...this reads and looks delightful. so sorry to hear your beloved is still flat most of the hours. take care.

Saturday, January 17, 2015  
Blogger Zoomie said...

Diane, thanks for the kind thoughts. His back is much better today as I write, and we are hopeful the worst is over.

Saturday, January 17, 2015  
Blogger Greg said...

Sorry I missed this post. We had a fun time. You guys should get on cruise ship soon!

Friday, January 23, 2015  
Blogger Zoomie said...

Greg, you're right, we should. Maybe once My Beloved is well...

Friday, January 23, 2015  

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