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!