September 16, 2010
Chicken Enchilada Soup
Posted by: Site Administrator : Category: soup
This evening was cool and rainy. Perfect soup weather. At lunch, I’d had some Baja Enchilada soup at Planet Sub, and was inspired.
To do this properly takes about 2 days**
Day 1:
- Obtain a rotisserie chicken from your favourite purveyor of such things. I’m a big fan of Costco. You can make your own, too, if so inclined (and equipped).
- Eat the chicken for dinner.
- Boil the carcass for about an hour in 2 quarts of water and put the whole thing in the fridge overnight.
Day 2:
- Take the chicken in a pot out of the fridge.
- Scoop the solidified fat from the top of the pot and put in your soup pot.
- Using a colander, separate the chunks of chicken from the broth
- Remove any chunks that don’t strike you as edible.
- Put the edible bits back in the broth and set aside
- Finely chop up:
- an onion (I’ll leave it up to you how big)
- a red pepper (or two)
- garlic (how much depends on your individual taste and the current level of vampire activity in your area)
- green chiles (or you can cheat and use them from a can)
- Maybe even some jalapenos if you’re feeling wild
- Heat the chicken fat and sauté the vegetables in it. If your chicken was lean, you may want to add some olive oil, you’re going to need about 4-6 tablespoons worth of fat for the roux.
- Add 3/4 cup flour or masa harina and make a roux (about 3 minutes with a whisk, until it starts browning)
- Add the chicken broth and stir with the whisk until well blended
- Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally to keep the roux from sticking. When it boils, the soup will be thickened.
- Add 1 tablespoon chili powder, 1 tablespoon cumin, and salt to taste and stir it in.
- Stir in 1.5 cups grated cheese. Cheddar works well, as does any mexican blend or something of that ilk. Please don’t use something like Velveeta, it would make me cry.
- Let the cheese get all nice and melty as you stir it in.
- You can add some other southwesternish sorts of things like corn, black beans, and cilantro here. Stir it, and serve.
Serving:
Goes well with a garnish of sour cream, tortilla strips, pico de gallo, or just a nice simple roll.
Make sure you have your favorite hot sauce handy.
** But you can totally cheat by using prepackaged chicken broth and add some chicken (this works well with canned chicken breast)