Chicken Tortilla Soup

I like soup. All kinds, especially those that are easy to make and hearty enough for an entire meal. I’ve actually been making a lot of soup lately, mostly because I live in Wisconsin and its winter. Wisconsin winter+soup=HAPPINESS. For real.

I found this recipe at the request of my husband. He loves mexican chicken soup. The original recipe calls for making it in a crockpot, but my crockpot isn’t really big enough (I have a 4 quart, I think you’d need at least a 6 quart), so I made it in my big dutch oven.

Chicken Tortilla Soup (Find the original recipe here)

• 2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts & 2-3 boneless skinless thighs
• 1 (15 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, mashed
• 1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups water
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen corn
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro (I left this out. Hubby HATES cilantro)
• Corn tortilla chips for topping

Place all the ingredients (except the chips) into the slow cooker and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6-8 hours (I cooked it for 2 hours on the stovetop on low). Before serving, remove cooked chicken, shred and add back into soup. Top with tortilla chips (I also topped with cheese)

So easy and so yummy.

First post! And….Sherried Tomato soup

Is it a good sign or a bad sign that my first recipe is jacked from another blog? Oh well. It is what it is.

I’ve been wanting to try The Pioneer Woman’s Sherried Tomato Soup for awhile now. I decided that mid-August was an excellent time to try a new soup recipe. Because hot and humid always mixes with soup, right?

Anyway, we liked it. It was tasty. The only problem was that it was too chunky. I think next time I’ll take my stick blender to it to smooth it out a little bit. It also makes A LOT of soup. Far more than hubby and I can eat, so I suggest that unless you’re making this for an army, you either freeze it before you add the sherry, cream and herbs, or cut down the recipe. Or plan to give away a jar to your neighbors, that works too.

Sherried Tomato Soup (modifications in bold)

6 tablespoons melted butter
1 medium onion, diced
1 46-ounce bottle or can tomato juice
2 14 ounce cans diced tomatoes
1 to 3 tablespoons chicken base ( I used 2)
3 to 6 tablespoons sugar (I used 4, depends on how sweet you want it)
Pinch of salt
Black Pepper
1 cup cooking sherry (1/2 cup was definitely enough)
1 1/2 cups heavy cream (1 cup is enough)
chopped fresh parsley
chopped fresh basil (left out, hubby doesn’t like basil)

Saute diced onions in butter until translucent. Add canned tomatoes. Add tomato juice, sugar, pinch of salt, and black pepper and stir. Bring to a near boil, then turn off heat. Add in sherry and cream and stir. Add in parsley and basil to taste, adjust other seasoning, and serve.

I chose to serve with grilled cheese, because grilled cheese and tomato soup are pretty much inseparable in our house. Can’t have one without the other. Here is a picture of the soup on the stove

and here is the soup in the bowl. Yum.

(Yes, I know my food photography sucks. Deal with it)