Tortilla Soup

On a cold rainy day the best thing to have for dinner is something warm & filling...tortilla soup is just the thing...

I found this recipe online a few months ago and have made it twice so far. Now, the first time I try out a new recipe I do exactly as the recipe says...I read it so carefully & I'll admit I sometimes get a bit stressed...silly, right?

Well, the next time I make it, I tweak, tweak, tweak! I add more of what I like & leave out what I don't like or don't have in my pantry...the original author will never know! That's the beauty of being the chef in your kitchen...YOU are the BOSS!

So here is the recipe from Foodnetwork.com courtesy of Wolfgang Puck's book "Pizza, Pasta, & More" with my own spin on it...so now it's called...

TORTILLA SOUP ala BERNADETTE (or just tortilla soup if you prefer...remember, I'll never know...lol)

Ingredients:

3 ears of white corn
4 or 5 cloves of garlic (peeled)
1 small onion (peeled & quartered)
1 jalapeno pepper (no seeds or stem)
2 tablespoons oil
5 corn tortillas (3 cut into small squares) Reserve the other 2 for garnish
2 large ripe tomatos (peeled, w/o seeds, & cubed...this is the "pain in the butt" part, but it must be done!)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 quarts (64ozs) chicken stock..I use low-sodioum, fat-free broth
Kosher salt & black pepper (to taste)
shredded chicken (optional)

Directions:
1. Using a large knife, scrape kernals off of corn..DON'T throw out cobs
2. Put corn, garlic, jalapeno, onion in a food processor & PULSE a few times...it should stay chunky (if you don't have a food processor you can give everything a rough chop) Set aside.
3. In a large pot, heat the oil, add tortilla squares & let them crisp up a bit.
4. Stir in the corn mixture & saute a bit.
5. Add tomatoes & tomato paste. Let simmer for about 5-10min
6. Slowly stir in the stock & the cobs (told you not to throw them out!) Cook over low heat until the soup reduces by a third or about 10-15min.

7. Remove cobs (now you can throw them out).
8. Puree the soup in a blender. Do this in batches. DO NOT fill your blender more than HALF WAY...hot liquid will expand so HOLD ON TO YOUR BLENDER LID. As you puree the batches pour them into a clean pot.

You're almost done...all you need now is the garnish!

1. Cut the 2 tortillas into small strips
2. Place them on an oven-safe tray & pop them into the oven (my oven doesn't work so I use a toaster oven) I set it to 375 degrees & leave them in until they start to get a bit brown..two steps shy of burnt!

Optional:
The original Wolfgang version of this recipe called for cubed chicken breast, but who really has time to cook something else? Not me, so what I did was buy a rotisserie chicken from the supermarket & shredded up a leg & the breast..I'm such a cheater...lol

In the end you'll have this:
(shown w/o chicken...I was too busy eating it to take a picture of the soup once it had chicken in it..)

This soup is so yummy..I hope you enjoy it! Also I should say that I dedicate this post to my friend Karla, who I promised to send this recipe to so long ago...here it is Karla!!

Do you have any recipes you'd like to share? I'm always up for trying something new...

Happy Eating & I hope you don't get stuck doing the dishes..lol!

~Bernadette