I'm not a practitioner of the principles of the Slow Food movement, but I do like to take time and allow complexity and depth of flavor to develop in my food. In my opinion, and with little exception, a soup that hasn't had at least 2 hours to simmer isn't worth eating. Tortilla soup should be an all day or next day dish. The nice thing about soup is you can leave it alone for long periods of time and it is the better for it.
As I previously mentioned, I had 1/2# leftover sauteed chicken breast strips that I needed to put to use. I had a hankerin' for tortilla soup, so I pulled out a 2 quart bag of turkey stock. Which reminds me, I need to write on broth and stock making. Never let leftover chicken scraps go to waste!
I always start my soups with a roux. A roux is a butter and flour thickener that adds a layer to a soup's flavor. Making roux is presumeably a French technique probably as old a flour itself. Use equal portions of butter and flour. Melt the butter over med.-lo to med. heat. Keep it on med.-lo until you get some practice. Add the flour and stir. You can whisk if you like.According to Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen, there are 4 basic types of roux: from light brown roux to dark brown roux. I prefer a light brown roux in this recipe. That means that the roux is just about ready when the lumps of flour melt into the butter.
Next is the technique for making corn tortilla strips. I like Rick Bayless' method for making baked tortilla chips as found in Mexico: One Plate At A Time. This is to coat tortillas with oil and bake them in a hot oven. Pour a thin stream of oil over a cookie sheet full of wedge-shaped or strip-shaped tortilla chips. Toss them gently to coat all sides. Bake in a preheated oven at 400-425, depending on your oven, for 5-8 minutes until just crispy. They will finish crisping for about 2 minutes after you take them out. Make sure they are evenly spaced on the cookie sheet. It is okay if you layer them about 2 deep, as long as none of them is completely covered. You will later use these in the bottom of each bowl of soup.
10 corn tortillas, sliced in long, thin strips, baked crisp
1 c. leftover chicken, shredded or diced
or 1/2 lb. chicken breast meat, sauteed in butter, shredded
2+ q. chicken or turkey stock
1 qt. water
2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
3 tbsp. flour
3 tbsp. butter, evoo, lard, bacon grease, etc.
2 lg. carrots, diced
1 med. onion, sliced
5 cl. garlic, pressed, minced
1/4 c. cilantro or parsley, minced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 poblano chile, deseeded, reconstituted in warm water, chopped
spice mixture: bl. pepper to taste, 2 tbsp. cumin seeds, dash of
curry powder, 5 allspice berries, pinch cinnamon, 1 tbsp.
paprika; combine and crush in a mortar with pestle
2 tbsp. total minced fresh basil and dried oregano
Warm the chicken broth and water in a pan to the side of your Dutch oven. In the Dutch oven, melt the butter over med.-lo to med. heat. Add the flour and stir vigorously until flour is dissolved. Continue to cook about 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add the spice mixture and stir about 30 seconds. This is called "blooming" the spices, an Indian technique. Add the diced vegetables and about 1 tbsp. salt and cook until just tender, stirring often, about 3-4 minutes. Add chicken, stir. Add the apple cider vinegar to deglaze the pan and reconstitute the roux, which will now be clinging with the spices to the vegetables. Scrape vigourously to break loose the flavorful fond that hardens on the bottomof the pan. Pour in the broth and water mixture. Bring to the boil quickly, turning up the heat to med.- hi if necessary. Stir frequently until the soup boils. Lower heat to med.-lo or even lower and simmer for a minimum of 3 hours and up to 8 hours, uncovered.
To serve, place several tortilla strips in each serving bowl and ladle hot soup over them. Garnish with lime wedges, fresh onion, white farmer's cheese, and fresh cilantro.
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