CHICKEN TORTILLA SOUP

On this evening's dinner menu is the Chicken Tortilla Soup from WWCAH, page 66. Well, I have actually made what my mother refers to as my bastardized version. Of course, I didn't have all the ingredients when I began making this but I have never let such an insignificant detail get in the way of culinary adventure. I did have on hand cilantro, canned tomatoes, limes and an avocado at its most buttery, sensuous peak of perfect ripeness so tallyho!


One of the missing ingredients was the masa harina. I do not have this in my kitchen and am unlikely to dash out and buy some. So, I took a bit of cornmeal which I did have on hand and spun it about in the food processor. This did absolutely nothing so I whirred it around in one of my trusty coffee grinders (which as never seen coffee in its entire life and never will!) and it was turned into a lovely fine flour. If you don't have either cornmeal or masa harina, I think the soup would be just fine without.

I didn't have Montery Jack on hand (another thing which will never, ever find its way into my kitchen...tasteless pap!) but so what?


And, no tortillas either. But, what I always do have in my freezer is President's Choice Naan which rubbed with a bit of olive oil, salted lightly, cut into cubes and baked makes excellent soup or salad croutons.


You can see why my mother accuses me of bastardizing recipes. Oh well. One must use what one has one hand, especially for things that are just simply not essential to the whole exercise. Well, I guess tortillas are central to tortilla soup but whatever!


The recipe says to whir the tomato mixture in either a food processor or blender. I tried the food processor first and then went to the blender to get a smooth texture. The food processor would be fine if you wanted the soup not as smooth.

Also, I left out the water.

Both Gary and I really liked this soup. It has a very bold flavour, not too bold for kids but very tasty. It tastes okay without the lime juice but once the juice is added, it goes from okay to great. So, if you don't have limes, don't make it.

The soup seems somewhat insubstantial but once we added the avocado and croutons just as we were about to eat it, it became something quite lovely. We each had a soup bowl full and it was enough for us for dinner. (Well, that followed by a piece of ginger pound cake was enough but I digress.) I don't think this would serve 8 as the recipe says unless you add the water but I think that would dilute it too much.

That's my first review. Thanks for letting me join your clog, Barbara and Tracy.