Eating with Liz 2011 - Enchilada Soup

As promised, here is the soup recipe that I splattered all over my walls:

Mom Evans’ Chicken Enchilada Soup

Serves: 6-8

1 pkg. Corn Tortillas cut into strips (or Fritos)

3 Tbsp Vegetable Oil (if you use Fritos you don’t need the oil)

2 quarts Chicken Stock

2 Cloves Garlic, minced

1 Medium Onion, chopped

2 cans Mild Chopped Green Chilies

2-4 Chicken Breasts, cooked, cubed or shredded

1 large can Plumb Tomatoes or 6-8 frozen Roma Tomatoes, unthawed and crushed (2 cans of crushed tomatoes)

Tabasco

3 tsp Cumin

Fry tortillas in Oil until crisp. Drain on a paper towel and set aside.

In large soup pot add: Chicken stock, onion, garlic, green chilies, and tomatoes. Cook on medium heat until it reduces by 1/3. This takes about 15 – 30 minutes. Add Tortilla strips (leave out some for garnish if you like.) Then take portions and blend in blender until smooth. (You can leave it a bit chunky if you like.) Pour back in soup pot. Add chicken, cumin, and Tabasco. Heat until hot.

Serve in bowls with the following condiments: Chopped Tomatoes, Olives, Sour Cream, Shredded Cheese, Fried Tortillas (Fritos)

Okay, so that’s the recipe just the way I received it in purple. There are a few Changes that I have made to it, as you can see in blue.

This is one of my favorite soups and I am always happy to eat it when it is served. I had finally decided that I needed the recipe myself and my mother-in-law gave it to me several months ago. Last week was the first time I had attempted it. And if you read my last blog entry you can see the fiasco that turned out to be.

Here are some things I learned while making this soup that are not stated in the recipe: (and that I didn’t know before hand…)

*  Let the soup cool before putting it in the blender. Otherwise your blender will explode all over your kitchen. Because as my helpful friend Candy stated and rubbed in that hot things don’t go in blenders because the pressure will cause the lid to blow of.  

* You don’t really need the fried tortillas. I didn’t fry corn tortillas for this recipe, I also didn’t put any in the soup while I was making it. I used Fritos, and they only went on as garnishes at the end. I’m sure the Fritos could be used in the middle of the recipe instead of the tortillas but when I was making the soup I was too mad to care so I didn’t put any in.

* Tabasco. The recipe doesn’t say how much to use. I assumed it was just to taste, but you never know. I put in about three shakes of the bottle. That was about good for us. John and I are really not spicy food fans.

Even without the blending in the middle of the recipe what was left in the pot was really good. The chunkiness of the soup was good I didn’t mid a little chewing as I ate it.

I hope you give this soup a try and enjoy it as much as I do. Fell free to make whatever changes you want to make it just that much more tasty for you… and if it’s really good let me know and I’ll give it a try too. I think next time I make it I’ll half it because it makes a lot of soup. Even with only half a pan left to eat we still ended up with 4 bowls of leftovers for lunches.