Tag: Real Food

Quite Possibly The World’s Best and Easiest Chicken Tortilla Soup!

IMG_9715Part II, as continued from yesterday’s post…

This recipe is fantastic because it is so versatile. Everything can be thrown together with pre-made convenience foods, but honestly? It is unbeatable if you use your own salsa and make stock from scratch. Like all the best food, this dish is as good as the ingredients you use.

 

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(left) Yesterday’s stock from the slow cooker!

Ready? Here it is:

The Best, Easiest Chicken Tortilla Soup

  • shredded chicken
  • chicken broth
  • frozen corn
  • salsa
  • chili powder
  • shredded cheese and crushed tortilla chips

Need exact measurements? I’ve got those:
(but remember, this is a very forgiving recipe in that you can change the amounts of each of the ingredients)

  • 3-4 quarts chicken stock (home made is best)
  • 1 1/2 cups salsa (home made or your favorite)
  • 2-4 teaspoons chili powder

Simmer the above ingredients for as long as you have patience, 20-60 minutes is fine. 

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…shredded chicken, frozen corn.

About ten minutes before you want to serve, finish the soup by adding the following two ingredients and heat through but don’t overcook:

  • 1 bag frozen corn kernels (12-16 ounces)
  • 2-4 cups chopped, cooked chicken (most of the meat from a rotisserie chicken)

Serve with crushed tortilla chips and shredded cheese.

A plop of sour cream is good on top, too. I never offer this, as The Husband doesn’t like the added dairy- he leaves out the cheese, too. Cretin.

This soup is also great with hominy instead of corn kernels. Buy your favorite prepared salsa if you don’t make your own, no cheap cilantro-less crap with added sugar allowed. Again, this soup is as good as the ingredients from which it is made.

Want this dish without any of the prep work? Break out a couple cartons of chicken broth, cooked chicken strips from the convenience section of the market, store bought salsa, chili powder, a bag frozen corn, tortilla chips, and pre-grated cheese. So easy. So good.

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Cheesy Crackers… because I’m Sick of Soup and Tea

Thought I’d try a recipe that I’ve had for a while, one for home made cheesy crackers… kind of like Cheez-its. My kids love those crackers and whenever they eat a lot of something, I like to see how a home made version might turn out. ChewOutLoud.com had a super simple recipe- four ingredients: cheddar, flour, butter, and salt. That’s it. I didn’t want to mess with a lot of ingredients or kitchenware with this crummy cold I have, but I’ve been bored with just TV and reading, I needed to create something. And of course, I had to make a few changes, so my recipe follows-

Four ingredients...
Four ingredients…

Cheesy Crackers

  • 1 1/2 shredded cheddar cheese
  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 4 tablespoons cold butter, cut up
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Voilà- dough
Voilà- dough

Put all the ingredients into food processor bowl, and blend until the dough starts to come together- 30 to 60 seconds. Don’t overwork the dough, think of it as a cousin of pie crust and if it mixes too long the crackers will be tough.

dough disks
dough disks

Flatten dough into three disks, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour.

almost crackers...
almost crackers…

Roll out the dough disks one at a time to about 1/8th of an inch thick and cut into squares of approximately one inch.

Place on baking tray, and poke the pre-crackers a couple of times with the flat end of a skewer (optional), and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, until they start to brown lightly.

Finished!
Finished!

These were really tasty, but I think I still overworked the dough- 30 seconds was probably all the mixing it needed. Also, they are unbelievably greasy, until you think about how much cheese and butter there is to so little flour. Probably why they are so tasty, too!

If you have young kids, you really ought to try this recipe or a similar one. I bet they would really enjoy making their own cheesy crackers! Mine came out less crispy as store bought crackers, so I put them back in the oven for a bit longer- if you do this, watch out, they brown very fast.