Way back when I lived in San Francisco, I was going to college at the University of San Francisco and working at Papyrus (so my love of paper shouldn't surprise anyone). The store I worked at primarily was downtown in the Financial District at the Embarcadero Center. While the area had plenty to offer to tourists, it also catered specifically to a lunch crowd because of all the people working 9-5 in the office buildings.
So I had my pick of pretty awesome lunch spots and my favorite, without question, was the San Francisco Soup Company. They had a couple of locations around the city, but had started downtown and it was perfect. With constant chilly, wet weather, soup and some bread was so often the quintessential lunch. Two of their regular soups quickly became my favorites - the chicken and dumpling soup (I will get to that when the weather around here gets cooler) and the chicken tortilla soup.
It was the first time I had tortilla soup and it is the gold standard in my opinion. The more I have learned about tortilla soup, in my quest for the perfect copy-cat recipe, I realized their version was less than traditional. There is no corn (though I suppose you could add some), they did not deep-fry tortilla strips, and there weren't a ton of chilles, and not a tomato to be found.
The broth was super-rich in flavor and spice, the chicken was tender and shredded and it was always topped with broken blue corn tortilla chips, queso cheese, and cilantro. I could eat it every day....I probably almost did most weeks to be honest.
After a few years of tweaking to get the flavor right, this is my favorite version of chicken tortilla soup that I've made. It's pretty easy, and I bet it could be done in the crock pot (though I haven't tried). Less than an hour though start to finish, I don't think the crock pot is really needed though.
Chicken Tortilla Soup
Ingredients:
- 2 tbs. butter
- 1 medium white onion, diced small (or grated)
- 2 Anaheim chiles, seeded and diced
- 4-6 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tbs. adobo seasoning
- 1 tsp. chili powder
- 1 tsp. chipotle powder
- 1/2 tsp. cumin
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 4 cups (32 oz) chicken broth
- 2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
- Blue Corn Tortilla chips
- Shredded Queso-fresca cheese
- Fresh cilantro, chopped
- Avocado, sliced
In a soup pot or large dutch oven, melt the 2 tbs of butter over medium-high heat. Add the onion, chiles, and garlic and saute until soft and fragrant.
Add the seasonings and salt and pepper. Stir until the veggies are evenly coated.
Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Place the chicken breasts into the broth. Cover and simmer until the chicken is fork tender.
Using two forks, pull the chicken apart into as small pieces as you can. Allow the chicken to simmer longer until you can pull the chicken into fine shreds. Once it is in fine shreds, allow the soup to simmer for just a few more minutes.
Remove the soup from the heat and serve immediately. Top each bowl with tortilla chips, cheese and some cilantro and avocado.
