Tortilla Soup + Smashed Bladder = bathroom breaks!

Little man cub/papaya baby has been very active this week.

His kicks/jabs/elbows/knees are much stronger and when he's moving, the duration is longer, too. He has quiet spells a lot but he's still super active - mostly in the evenings, midday and early mornings when I'm just not quite ready to wake up but ... he doesn't seem to care.

The other day I woke up at 6:30am to my bladder being smashed by a fetus foot/hand/elbow/whatever. Good morning to you too, baby! 

Thankfully my rocky food relationship is long over and I can eat like a "normal" pregnant human now. And from time to time I crave a little something spicy. I've craved spicy and pickled things from the very beginning, actually.

And last night I was craving tortilla soup: something rich but light, and obviously spicy. And lots of cilantro!

I had a picked-over chicken carcass (hate that word a lot) from a roast chicken earlier this week so I threw it in a pot of water to make some quick broth.

Here's the recipe I just made up as I went along; that's how I roll in the kitchen and it *usually* works out. 

Last night was a complete success and I the baby ate like, a gallon of soup.

Of course tweak this to your taste ...

Chicken Tortilla Soup

One 4 pound chicken or just the carcass, either way you get a lot of flavor

Large pot/dutch oven

Put the bird in the pot and fill with water til the bird is covered (about 12+ cups). Heat to a boil for at least 30-45 minutes to get as much flavor as you can into the broth. Of course if you are using a whole bird, cook for longer so it's not raw in the center, a full hour. Then make a cut where the leg meets the breast to check that it's running 'clean' (not red). Remove the bird and add the following to your pot of broth:

Can of diced tomatoes with juices, preferrably a spicy variety - I used a 'salsa style' tomato that was fire roasted with green peppers

Can of green chilis (the little baby can)

1/2 bag frozen or one can of corn

Can of beans, your choice - I used kidney because it's what I had but chili or black beans would also work

Let this simmer for a while, about 20 minutes. Then add:

1 T Cumin

1 t Chili Powder

1/2 t Thyme

1/2 t or less, just a hint really, Ground Cinnamon

Fresh Jalepeno pepper, diced with seeds - use 1/2 a pepper, a whole pepper, 2 peppers - this is where you'll be controlling your heat so use as much as you like

Diced chicken, about 2 cups

Let this simmer a few more minutes to let the jalepeno soften. At this point I tried something different, for me at least: I crumbled up 3 small corn tortillas and dropped them into the soup. I wanted a little 'thickness' to the broth - it seems like a good tortilla soup has an almost creamy base, even though there isn't any dairy added. The tortillas kind of fell apart as it simmered and turned the broth a little opaque. *Perfection*

Add coarse salt to taste. And that's it.

I prepared the following toppers while the soup was simmering:

 

Fresh diced avocado

 

Fresh minced cilantro

Grated cheese - I used colby which was good but cheddar would work. Heck if you are an actual Hispanic person or a Mexican food purist, use something like Queso Fresco. yum (Actually if you are Hispanic you're probably laughing at my gringo recipe or not even reading it in the first place!)

 

Also a little squeeze of lime juice would rock this soup but I didn't have limes.

Speaking of bebe: These things somehow made their way into my Gap.com cart and then just showed up at my house. *weird*

Last night's dinner was the perfect preface...

...To today's weather - just a twinge of cool to contrast the toasty warmth of direct sun on your back, the grass still damp and cold from the rain.

I decided last night was Homemade Tortilla Soup night, so I whipped up a delicious pot from scratch. I don't think I've ever made homemade tortilla soup. It turned out wonderfully though, if I do say so myself. ;)

Start with ...

3 chicken leg pieces (leg/thigh) in a large pot of water over high heat with a sprinkle of salt. Let it boil til the chicken is cooked through (45 minutes or so) then lower the heat to medium-high and remove the chicken to a plate to cool.

If you're like me and now have less than 1/2 a pot of broth left after removing the chicken, add a box of store-bought broth to fill the pot up a bit more.

NOTE: Store-bought broth is a suitable supplement to homemade broth; as a stand-alone, I don't feel like it has the best flavor though. I always make my own broth to start out and then add boxed broth if needed.

While the chicken is cooking, prepare...

1/2 white onion

2 fresh jalapeno peppers

4 fresh garlic cloves

1/2 can black olives

Dice all of these medium/small and add to the pot of broth.

The stir in ...

1 can corn/pimento (I think it's called 'Mexican Corn Medley' or something like that - I got mine at Aldi)

1 large can crushed tomatoes

NOTE(S): 1. Prepping jalapenos should be done with care since the membrane and the seeds are what make the pepper hot and the act of removing them can leave residue on your hands/nails. Wash your hands before and after and use a spoon to scoop the seeds out and scrape the sides free of the membrane, aka placenta, which is where the capsaisin lives. 2. A trick I use before chopping fresh garlic is to soak the cloves in water for a few minutes. This softens the skin and makes it much easier to separate them from the garlic itself. Remove the garlic from the water and smash with the flat of your knife, separate the skin, then chop the garlic.

Let all of this boil for a while - til the onions and peppers are soft. As this is happening, add the following seasonings to taste ...

Crushed Red Pepper
Chili Powder
Cumin Powder
Dried Oregano
Salt

The red pepper really bumps up the heat so don't add much if you like your soup more mild.

Once the chicken has cooled, remove from the bones (carefully since there are lots of smaller bones that can make it into your dish if you're not watchful!) and then chop down to bite size. Add this to the soup, or keep on the side and add as a topping if you have guests who don't eat meat - you could easily sub the chicken broth for a vegetable broth, too.

And that's pretty much it. Easy as can be! Once the soup has come together and the veggies are soft and the broth is just as hot as you like it, turn off the stove. Let your soup cool for a few minutes and construct a bowl as follows:

Ladle soup into a bowl and add toppings...

fresh Avocado, diced

Crushed tortilla chips (or you can be really entrepreneurial and make your own out of sliced corn tortillas and some vegetable oil on the stove)

fresh chopped Cilantro (unfortunately I didn't have any cilantro this time)
Monterrey Jack cheese

Eat until you are full! ;)