Chicken Tortilla Soup

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.

Broccoli Cheese and Rice Soup

My first job in Austin was at a little church pre-school in Brentwood.  I loved that place, I loved those kids, I loved my Tiny Turtles, it was really the best.  One of added bonuses to my job there was The Little Deli.  It's this little neighborhood pizzeria and deli.  Not a New York Deli by any stretch, but a wonderful sandwich menu, great pizza and five soups that they rotate daily.  

Their Broccoli Cheese and Rice soup immediately topped my list.  They serve it with crisp garlic bread slices, almost like crackers, that crumble perfectly on top.  A bowl of that and half a sandwich was the perfect lunch. 

Since I stay at home with my boys now and we don't live in that neighborhood, weekly lunches there are a thing of the past.  We have taken the boys a handful of times in the last two years, but I crave that soup way more often. So when Aaron had a bunch of dental work done last week and was on strict orders to eat soft, but filling foods, this came to mind.  I also was super tired from taking care of him and the boys so I needed something quick and easy.  Check.  I needed something both boys and I could and would eat too. Check.  Dinner was planned.

I've never made it before and The Little Deli shockingly, wasn't handing out the recipe.  So this was my version and I think it was pretty darn close!

Broccoli Cheese and Rice Soup

Makes 8-10 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 cups, uncooked, white rice
• 1 white onion, diced
• 3 tbs. butter
• 2 tbs. garlic powder
• A dash of ground sage
• Salt and Pepper
• 3 tbs. flour
• 3-4 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 8 oz block of sharp orange cheddar cheese, freshly shredded
• 3 cups frozen broccoli florets (about 1 bag)

Cook your rice according to the directions in a saucepan or rice cooker.  Fluff and set aside.

In a large dutch oven or soup pot, melt 1 tb. of the butter.  Saute the onion until translucent. 

Add the garlic powder, sage, salt and pepper then melt the remaining butter and saute together for a moment.  Sprinkle the flour and stir until it is a golden paste.  You do not want it to burn so keep it moving, this should just take a minute.

A half cup at a time, whisk in 3 cups of chicken broth, whisking the mixture smooth at each addition.  Bring to a boil.  Stir in the 1 cup of heavy cream. Lower the heat to a simmer.

Add the shredded cheese and slowly stir until its melted and combined smooth. 

Note About Cheese: I recommend when making a soup like this that you purchase a block of cheese and shred it freshly for two reasons:  1) You can shred it on the finest side of a box grater and it will melt and blend more smoothly without clumping and 2) bags of shredded cheese are often coated in a powder that dries the cheese a little to prevent the shreds from clumping together in the bag, however, this moisture is important because it seems to prevent the oil in cheese from separating when it melts into the soup.

Stir in the rice and frozen broccoli and cook until the broccoli is warmed through.  While the broccoli cooks, taste your soup and re-season as needed. Serve immediately and enjoy.

Storage Note: This soup is enjoyed best fresh.  When it is refrigerated and stored the rice will absorb the broth over time and will become more of a casserole and less of a soup.  It is still very tasty, and actually serves better to kids this way - less loose broth = less spills.

Beef and Broccoli: NY Chinese Take-Out

There are a lot of things I love about living in Texas, and lots of foods I love eating in Texas, but there is one (of a couple things) that I can not get here that just kills me: Chinese Take-Out. 

When I lived in New York growing up, we could get it anywhere really.  Every town had at least two different places, and truthfully, they tasted the same, the menus were the same, and they were perfect.

My asian-take-out game stepped up a few notches when I moved to San Francisco in college - suddenly, there wasn't just chinese.  There was Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Pan-Asian, Asian-Indian, the list goes on.  SO. MUCH. GOOD. FOOD.  And, it was all take-out. 

Such simple beauty in just calling it in, picking it up, boarding a cold, wet, smelly, MUNI bus, sitting in a cold, hard seat smelling it's delicious aroma through its Styrofoam encasement, and finally walking up three flights of stairs to your apartment, flopping down on your bed and devouring take-out perfection with a plastic fork and trashy TV.

Beauty like this does not exist in Austin, Texas.  Sorry, Austin, but take-out is not your forte.  The only thing I could order for delivery to my house when I first moved here was Pizza.  That was it. And even if I wanted to venture out and drive to get it myself, there was ONE decent Chinese place and it was so far away, it wasn't worth the effort.

Four years of missing Chinese later and I stumble upon this recipe from Table for Two and everything changed. A little tinkering on getting it right, and before I knew it, I could close my eyes and pretend I was eating it out of a cardboard contained with plastic fork, and I wouldn't be the wiser.

I am still missing my Chicken Lo Mein, but man, this hits the spot for beef and broccoli any day.

New York Style Beef and Broccoli

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. boneless beef roast, sliced into thin strips
• 2-3 cups beef broth
• 1 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 2 tbs. sesame oil
• 2 tbs. garlic powder
• 1 tbs. corn starch
• 3 tbs. flour
• Broccoli florets, large bag, frozen
• Cooked white rice, for serving

Cut the strips of beef in to 1-inch pieces.  Set aside.

In the bowl of a crockpot, whisk together 2 cups of beef broth, the soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, and garlic powder.  Add the meat to the bowl and toss to coat.

If there is not enough liquid to cover the meat, add just enough broth to ensure the meat is all covered.  Sometimes the roast I am able to buy is heavier than 2 lbs, but not to waste I just use it all - in this case I adjust my liquid appropriately.

Cook on high for 5 hours (or until meat is cooked to your preference, I like it very tender to a fork).  Keep in mind with crock pot cooking times, that all crock pots vary greatly depending on how large the capacity is and your cooking temp options.  Check your your meat as it cooks and when it is done, its done, don't fret over what the recipe says.

In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and flour.  Whisk in 4 tbs. of the broth from the crock pot to form a paste.  Stir this paste back into the crock pot and allow the sauce to thicken for 20 minutes.

After the sauce has thickened a bit, add in the desired amount of frozen broccoli florets.  I happen to love broccoli so I put in an entire bag, but its entirely up to you.  Stir, re-cover the crock pot and let the broccoli heat through (about five minutes). 

Serve over rice immediately.