Mmmmmm, soup. And a hot soup, like this Anaheim Chicken Tortilla Soup is especially delicious when the weather is as cold as it has been here in Massachusetts. This soup is both hot, as in temperature hot, but thanks to jalapeno peppers and some cayenne pepper sprinkled in, it's a little spicy hot, too, which is divine!
This soup was easy, but I would be lying to you if I also told you it was a snap, because it's not - but don't let that scare you away! Just plan to make it on a day that you have the time and you won't be sorry!
Keep in mind this recipe calls for cooked chicken. I took a few chicken breasts out of the freezer, chopped them up, sprinkled some poultry seasoning on them and tossed them in a frying pan to cook through. This step could be done while the soup simmers, or you could even prep it a day in advance, if you'd like. It will heat up in the finished soup before serving anyhow, so feel free to do what works for you.
After the chicken, the Anaheim peppers are next. Anaheim peppers are a mild pepper that got it's name from where they originated - Anaheim, California. I found them relatively easy at the local market but if you are having trouble finding them, you can always substitute Poblano peppers as well. Both of these peppers rank in heat between green bell peppers and jalapenos, so they are pretty easy to handle.
The skins need to be removed from the pepper before they go in the soup and the easiest way to do that is to broil them for a few minutes on each side, charring the skin, softening the flesh and making them nice and hot.
After they reach that stage, you can just pop them into a covered bowl or container and wait 15 to 20 minutes. The steam from the peppers will lift the skin right off and make them the easiest things to peel.
Once peeled, a quick, coarse chop will get them ready for the soup. Don't worry too much about dicing or mincing, the entire concoction takes a trip in your blender so it's ok to be a little brisk with the chopping.
While the peppers are steaming, cut a few tortillas into small strips for the soup. They need to be fried in a skillet with some oil until they are brown and crisp. Half of these will go in the soup to be blended and provide some thickness to the soup and the remainder is there for garnish, so I found about two 10" tortillas did the trick for us. We used large flour tortillas but feel free to use the smaller ones or corn ones if you prefer. Once brown and crisp, transfer them to a paper towel lined plate and they can be placed aside.
The jalapenos will also need to be cored, seeded and chopped. If you've never done this before, it's really easy, just be aware that touching any part of the seeds or placenta (yup, the guts of the jalapeno are called the placenta) will turn your fingers into tiny little heat daggers. In other words, don't touch your eyes after handling them. Actually, don't touch your eyes after you wash your hands, or even after showering. Heck, try not to touch your eyes for 2 days after handling them, or better yet, wear some gloves when handling them. It may sound like I'm speaking from personal experience, and to that, I'll say, what do you think? and we can move on...
The easiest way to prepare them is to cut the top off the jalapeno and then slice it in half. Hold one half in your hand and using a spoon, scoop the insides out of the pepper into the sink/garbage. Keep scraping the spoon against the flesh until all remnants of the pepper are gone. The real heat comes from the seeds and placenta, but even the ribs of the placenta can be bitter in any pepper, not just jalapenos. If you like a little heat, by all means leave a little behind. Jalapenos mature from a smooth green skin, to cracked green to flaming red, so depending on where they're at, the pepper will be more mild or super hot. These were shiny and new, so they were not very hot to begin with.
Check out this pic and see if you can see what I am saying. In reality, the orange habaneros are the hottest, but I have labeled just the jalapenos. So, in a nutshell, the more cracked and you are, the hotter, and the more red you are, the hotter - and now you can be that know-it-all in the produce aisle!
I know this is a lot of prep work and we haven't even begun the actual soup yet - but here it comes...finally! Heat a little oil and butter in a large stock pot or Dutch oven and add the onion, sautéing until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the garlic and continue cooking for another minute, until the garlic begins to turn golden. At this point, just about everyone is going into the pool!
Add the broth, puree, spices, peppers and half of the fried tortilla strips to the pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and continue cooking, uncovered, for about 30 minutes. Once the timer goes off, remove the soup from the heat and let cool.
The soup has to be blended at this point and you have a couple options. I used a handheld immersion blender because I learned the really, really hard way that covering and agitating a hot liquid causes immense expansion in milliseconds which then requires 144 square feet of ridiculous clean up. The lesson here? Keep it open if you can. But if you don't have an immersion blender, you can use a traditional blender or food processor, just be warned to keep it about half full and work in batches - and if the small quantity still proves to be a bad decision, don't come to me when your cursing and cleaning... just kidding.
At this point, you're in the homestretch and you'll be feasting in no time! Return the soup to the stovetop and continue cooking on medium heat. Add the chicken, lemon juice and optional cayenne pepper (depending on your desire for spicy) and cook until heated through. The soup can be served with shredded cheddar cheese, the remaining fried tortilla strips and sour cream. You can add an avocado on the side if that is your thing. The soup was so smooth and tangy, I thought it had the flavor of a hopped up tomato soup, so a grilled cheese sandwich, with pepper jack cheese if you dare, may also be a nice accompaniment.
This Anaheim Chicken Tortilla Soup was very tasty, a little spicy, and warmed us up on a very cold, winter night. It made quite a bit and we definitely had left overs. I think it would freeze very well if you wanted to make a big batch and have it another day for a quick lunch.
So don't be afraid to give it a try and when you do, come back and let me know what you think.
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