Molly Cookie

Classic and Inspiring Tortilla Soup

Jan 10, 2010 Chicken, Mexican, Soups

This week I made some inspiring Tortilla soup. We’ll get to that in a minute.

I started this blog because I love to write. Writing is something I’ve always loved to do, and over the years I’ve filled up countless journals and started a few different blogs. I’ve learned different things through each different blog. When I started my first blog at Mindsay I was writing for me. I wasn’t very good at writing for an audience at all, and I really wasn’t that creative. It was my first attempt at blogging when all I had done was journal my whole life. After about a year, a friend of mine designed a site for me and I got my own domain, and everything changed. Suddenly I was getting comments and all of my friends and family were reading and participating in the things I was writing about. We played games, I did silly things, wrote about my life, posted some fun pictures, and relationships grew because of my blog. I was able to keep in touch with friends who had moved away by sharing my life on my blog and letting them participate in it. It was great. Then, as we got older, the silliness seemed to get less flattering, or maybe I just started be get more serious, and the blog sort of fizzled out. I was sad about it for a while, and sort of mourned the loss of my 3 year blog about my life.

I knew the next blog I started should have a twist. I didn’t want to just write about my life anymore, I wanted to write about something so I could learn more about it. When you dedicate your writing to something you want to learn about you become a better writer and also better at the topic you choose. If I had to become good at something, I definitely wanted it to be cooking. I love to cook, and although I’ve never had any formal training I feel like I can hold my own in the kitchen. I thought that blogging about cooking might help me learn a few things, try some creative recipes I wouldn’t normally try, and inspire me to connect with a new group of people who love food and love to try new recipes.

I quickly realized that everyone loves food, and that this blog is something that most of my family and friends visit every now and then. I’m so glad that they do, because it really does make me feel connected with them when I can’t see them every day. I love looking at Google Analytics and seeing that 5 people in Chicago, 4 people in Dallas, 2 people in California, 1 person in Oregon, 3 people in Colorado, and 20 people in Oklahoma all visited my site yesterday. I can guess who some of those people are, and it makes me feel closer to them and like they know a little more about me. It’s really a wonderful feeling.

So, I made this inspiring soup, and it got me thinking about what I want out of this blog this year. Here are a few resolutions for MollyCookie in 2010:

Yes, all of these thoughts came after I helped cook and eat a very inspiring bowl of tortilla soup from Rick Bayless’s book Mexican Everyday. I love it because it doesn’t have corn or other vegetables in it, just the smooth broth, chicken, cheese, and chips. It is the best tortilla soup I’ve ever had in my life.

Classic Tortilla Soup

Makes about 10 cups, serving 6

Ingredients

Directions

Quickly toast the chile by turing it an inch or two above an open flame for a few seconds, until its aroma fills the kitchen. (Lacking an open flame, toast it in a dry pan over medium heat, pressing it flat for a few seconds, then flipping it over and pressing it again.) Break the chile into pieces and put it in a blender jar, along with the tomatoes with their juice. (A food processor will work, bu tit won’t completely puree the chile.)

Heat the oil in a large 4 quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until golden, about 7 minutes. Scoop up the onion and garlic with a slotted spoon, pressing them against the side of the pan to leave behind as much oil as possible, and transfer to the blender; set the pan aside. Process until smooth.

Return the pan to medium-high heat. When it is quite hot, add the puree and stir nearly constantly until thickened to the consistency of tomato paste, about 6 minutes. Add the broth and epazote, if using. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes. Taste and season with salt, usually about a generous teaspoon (depending on the saltiness of the broth).

Just before serving, add the chicken to the simmering broth. Divide the avocado, cheese, and tortilla chips among the serving bowls. When the chicken is done, usually about 5 minutes, ladle the soup into the bowls. Pass the lime separately.