Tortilla Soup
Adapted from Cook’s Ilustrated by Sarah

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (1 to 1/2 pounds)
8 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 large onion (about 1 pound), trimmed, peeled, and quartered
4 cloves garlic, peeled
8 to 10 sprigs fresh cilantro plus 1 sprig fresh oregano
1 14.5-oz. can diced tomatoes, drained lightly
1/2 medium jalapeño pepper
1 chipotle chile in adobo, plus up to 1 tablespoon adobo sauce
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Pinch of cumin
Salt and pepper, to taste

Garnishes
Broken tortilla chips (or strips)
Lime wedges
Sour cream
Shredded cheese (cheddar or monterey jack) or crumbled cotija cheese
Diced avocado
Cilantro leaves

Bring chicken, broth, 2 onion quarters, 2 garlic cloves, epazote, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to boil over medium-high heat in large saucepan; reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until chicken is just cooked through, about 20 minutes. Using tongs, transfer chicken to large plate. Pour broth through fine-mesh strainer; discard solids in strainer. When cool enough to handle, shred chicken into bite-sized pieces.

Puree tomatoes, 2 remaining onion quarters, 2 remaining garlic cloves, jalapeño, chipotle chile, cumin, and 1 teaspoon adobo sauce in food processor until smooth. Heat oil in Dutch oven over high heat until shimmering; add tomato/onion puree and 1/8 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring frequently, until mixture has darkened in color, about 10 minutes. Stir strained broth into tomato mixture, bring to boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer to blend flavors, about 15 minutes. Taste soup, adjust seasoning with salt, pepper, and, if desired, up to 2 teaspoons additional adobo sauce. Add shredded chicken and simmer until heated through, about 5 minutes. Ladle soup into bowls; garnish accordingly.

So I was just watching the beginning of the Powerpuff Girls movie, and paused on the image of the Professor buying the ingredients with which to make the girls. He buys sugar and “spices”- parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. While I love the Simon and Garfunkel shoutout, those aren’t spices. They’re herbs. So it wasn’t just the Chemical X that made them different from normal little girls, it was the fact that the Professor used the wrong ingredients.

I’ll shut up now.

Okay, I think I’m going to make the Cook’s Illustrated Tortilla Soup from the March-April 2005 issue. Either tomorrow or Sunday. I need to buy an onion and a jalapeno, as well as various garnishes (lime, avocado, cheese, sour cream). I also want to get more salsa makings. #6 was good! And easy!

So, I’ve got the better part of a roasted chicken to do something with… Jer suggested soup, chicken salad, or fajitas… I thought about mixing it in with some mac and cheese or just doing my favorite, picking at it off the bone. Any suggestions? I’ve got all the white meat and half the dark meat. Plus a carcass.

Note to everyone: I left my phone at Jon’s last night. I’ll get it after work today. By then it will have run out of batteries. So I won’t be able to get/make calls for a while. Please don’t panic.

Update on the phone situation: Well, I thought it was at Jon’s. I’m getting a little worried. So, still no phone. Email me if you want to talk.

So, in case you are thinking, “Salsa? She comes back, says she’s starting to cook again, and she makes salsa?! That’s not cooking, that’s assembling!”, I would just like you to know, I roasted a chicken last night. I made Marcella Hazan’s Chicken with Two Lemons. I’m just not quite sure what I think of it. I think I prefer a brined bird. However, I did the trick again of baking some rice in the bottom of the roasting pan… man, that’s so good. Even though I totally overcooked it and it was crunchy in a lot of places, it was still really good. I put it in at the beginning of the roasting when I really should have waited, like, a half hour before doing so. I added a cup of rice, two cups of boxed chicken broth, and some leftover frozen sherry-rosemary chicken sauce (from Christmas- we keep things frozen a long time). That was über-good. I wasn’t so taken with the chicken (I thought it was supposed to taste lemony, but it didn’t), but we’ll see if I change my mind later when I eat the leftovers. I bought some corn, too, but I haven’t done anything with it yet. Which is annoying, because corn = time bomb in terms of flavor. You want to get that stuff cooked as fast as possible. When I cook it tonight, it will not be ambrosia. It should still taste pretty good, though.

Salsa Attempt No. 6

2 14.5-oz. cans Muir Glen Fire-Roasted Tomatoes with Green Chiles, undrained
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
Juice of 1 lemon (1-2 Tbsp)
2 serrano chiles, seeded and chopped
2-3 Tbsp chopped cilantro
Dash of ground cumin
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Mix everything in a bowl and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Taste to make any final salt adjustments. Enjoy.