One of the gifts I gave myself this year (yes, I buy myself gifts) was Rick Bayless' Mexican Everyday cookbook. Many in the food world credit him with educating America about true Mexican cuisine and, for many of us, has expanded our Mexican culinary experiences beyond bean burritos and crunchy tacos. He is also won Top Chef Masters this year, which, I might add, he did with a lot of grace and class.
His tortilla soup recipe, the first I made from the book, is delicious and easy to do. I even managed to find the type of peppers the recipe called for, pasilla chilis. What makes this soup so delicious is the technique used to make the broth, which includes cooking down a puree of chili, tomatoes, onions, and garlic until it's almost a paste before adding in the chicken stock. This technique concentrates all of the flavor and the broth ends up tasting like it had simmered all day even though the soup really takes less than an hour to come together.
The soup itself is very simple, just chicken and broth, but the toppings make it extra special. The tortilla chips, avocado, sour cream and cheese all add different types of textures and flavors and make the soup perfect for lunch or a light dinner.
I'm guessing that you are now craving tortilla soup, so if you don't have Rick Bayless' book I found some tasty sounding recipes from some trusted sources...
Man, it's so cute that you buy yourself Christmas presents- If I wasn't so broke I would probably buy myself presents too :( I'd love to make a veggie version of this- it has all of my favourite Mexican extras like avocado, cheese, tortillas and sour cream! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeletesaw the tweet, then checked out the blog. Wow, what a good looking soup. I am making seafood risotto tonight, but that soup looks mighty tempting
ReplyDeleteoh that soup looks like it came straight from a restaurant!
ReplyDeleteI totally support buying yourself prezzies! I just wait until after when everything is on sale ;) Funny, I have been thinking about tortilla soup, I will definitely try a veg version of this!
ReplyDeleteI love this! Rick Bayless is awesome, and I love his cookbooks. Great gift for yourself! And lovely soup.
ReplyDeleteThis looks like a very interesting soup. And I can use it for my meatless day challenge.
ReplyDeletethere are many inspiring recipes in his book and he knows his way around Mexican foods, as a chef - Diana Kennedy is another winner, I believe she speaks from the heartland of Mexican cookery... she really knows her stuff and her knowledge shows her heart and soul is from of the real foods of Mexico... the two are great companions in my kitchen planning...
ReplyDeleteThis is an awesome tortilla soup recipe. I really enjoy Rick Bayless's cookbook. I also have a copy. I still have a half a bag of the dried pasilla peppers. Like you, I was surprised at easy how I found them.
ReplyDeleteWe really enjoy his classic margarita recipe in his book too. Very fresh and authentic.
Great blog post!
This is the second recipe I've read tonight made with Pasilla Chilies ... and the second one that sounds (and looks) incredible!
ReplyDeletelooks delicious and congrat on Top 9...I love mexican food never had the soup. Will try you made this look fantastic
ReplyDeleteMmmm I want a bowl of this right now! Brrr.
ReplyDeleteVery delicious - concentrating flavors is amazing. I bought myself some good balsamic vinegar for Christmas. It's fun to treat yourself to one thing! Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteAs Rick has this recipe on his website, I'll provide the link:
ReplyDeletewww.rickbayless.com/recipe/view?recipeID=51
Presents to yourself....Definitely a fan of that myself! I cannot wait to try this soup though! It looks great.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Travel Eat Love I would like a bowl now :) Great job :P
ReplyDeleteYour soup sounds delicious!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!
Rick Bayless rocks. All his cookbooks are amazing. This soup looks yum!
ReplyDeleteYour timing is perfect! We're in Mexico right now for the holidays and I've had tortilla soup twice. I kept telling Ron I need to find a recipe for this. I don't eat American Mexican food as a rule-I find it's too salty and greasy-I feel that way about french fries, too. I'm sure this will become a regular at our house. Thanks GGG
ReplyDeleteI LOVE tortilla soup. Thanks for posting!
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