Chicken Tortilla Soup
Ingredients:
1 tbsp of olive oil
2 whole chicken legs; bone-in, skin on
2 48 oz containers of chicken broth
3 tbsp of chicken bouillion paste
2 cloves of garlic; whole but smashed
1 yellow onion; skin on and cut in half
2 dried ancho chiles; with the stem cut off and seeds removed
1 dried chipotle pepper
3 pablano peppers; 1 cored and cut into large chunks and the other two diced
2 tsp of salt (more to taste)
1 tsp of pepper
1 tsp of cumin
1 tsp of onion powder
1 tbsp of Adobo seasoning
1 tsp of paprika
1 large tomato; diced
1 25 oz can of Mexican Style Hominy; drained
1 15.5 oz can of Cannellini beans; drained (you could also use black beans or pinto beans)
1 15.5 oz can of sweet corn; drained
1 package of corn tortillas; cut in strips
Optional but encouraged toppings: cilantro, cotija cheese, and avocado
In a large soup pot, heat your olive oil. Add in your chicken legs, smashed garlic, halved onions, and chunks of pablano pepper. Sear until the chicken has a nice color on it but is not cooked through.
Pour over your chicken stock, add in your dried chilies, cover and let simmer for about 2 hours. At this point the chicken should be cooked, so take the chicken out, remove/shred the meat, set that aside for later, and add the bones back into the broth.
Cover and let simmer for another 1- 2 hours.
Strain your broth (aka remove all the veggies/bones/anything else) so you have a nice and clean broth.
This is when we start to add in the seasonings to the broth. Add in your chicken bouillon and your other spices (salt, pepper, cumin, onion powder, Adobo, paprika). Adjust until you like the way the broth tastes!
You can let the broth sit until you are about 1 hour away from serving.
While your broth is simmering away, make your tortilla strips by preheating your oven to 400F and tossing your corn tortilla strips with a bit of olive oil. Lay them out on a baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes, tossing halfway through. You want the strips to be crunchy but still have a bite to them. Pull them out and set aside.
Add in your diced poblano peppers, the canned hominy, corn and beans and mix well! Add back in your shredded chicken.
Let simmer for another hour.
To serve, spoon your soup into a bowl, top with tortilla strips, avocado, cilantro and cotija cheese.