Dragonwagon, Soup
6 cups Chicken Stock or any well-flavored chicken stock
3 fresh tomatoes, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons mild vegetable oil, such as corn or peanut
1 large onion, diced
2 to 3 fresh green chilies, to taste, stems and seeds removed, diced (faintly sweet
poblano chilies, which are greenish-black triangular peppers, intriguingly sweet-hot, are great here)
½ to 1 whole fresh jalapeño pepper, stem and seeds removed, diced
2 teaspoons ground cumin seeds
2 teaspoons good Mexican chili powder
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups milk (half-and-half if you're feeling indulgent; low-fat if you're feeling
prudent)
12 ounces sharp Cheddar cheese, grated
½ cup Creme Fraiche (page 50) or kefir cheese
1¼ to 2 Cups diced, boned and skinned cooked chicken
Chopped fresh cilantro leaves to taste
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
(optional)
hot sauce Tabasco or similar
Finely chopped fresh cilantro or parsley and crushed tortilla chips, made, preferably, from both blue and yellow cornmeal, for garnish
1. In a large soup pot, bring chicken stock to a boil. Add the tomatoes, turn
down the heat to low, and let simmer, covered, while you continue.
2. In a large skillet, heat the butter and oil together. Add the onion and sauté until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the chilies (be prepared to cough bit as the spicy odors permeate the air), and after they have softened slightly, another 2 to 3 minutes, the cumin and chili powder. Stir, then sprinkle in the flour, blending it in with a spoon. Gradually add the milk or half-and-half, stirring to smooth. Let cook a few moments until thickened and free of all the raw flour taste.
3. Ladle 1 cup or so of the stock mixture into the thickened milk mixture and stir to thin it a little. Pour the entire contents of the skillet into the soup pot and let cook at a bare simmer over very, very low heat, stirring often, about 15 minutes.
4. Very slowly stir in the grated Cheddar and creme fraiche or kefir cheese. Cook
5 minutes, stirring often. Add the chicken and chopped cilantro. Taste and season with the salt and pepper. If it's not spicy enough for you, make the soup hotter with a judicious application of Tabasco. Serve hot immediately, garnished with the additional cilantro and crushed tortilla chips. (I like to make a stripe of blue corn chip crumbles flanked by a stripe of yellow. The rest of the chips go in a bowl to the table, along with a bowl of guacamole, natch.)
Serves 4 to 6 as an entrée, with rice or bread and a salad
VARIATIONS:
Wintertime Green Chili and Chicken Soup with Créme Fraiche: If fresh jalapenos and chili poblanos are not available, or if fresh tomatoes are pale and flavorless, you can still make this fine soup. To the simmering stock add half a 10-ounce can of Ro-Tel Diced Tomatoes and Green Chilies (usually kept with the canned tomatoes in the supermarket), thereby replacing both the tomatoes and jalapeño. In place of the chilies, add a 4-ounce can of diced green chilies to the cream sauce.
Elegant Green Chili Chicken Soup withCréme Fraiche: Follow either version of the soup, but make a green chili purée of reconstituted dried green chilies in Your blender or food processor. Pipe a bit atop soup. This is wonderful-pretty, delicious, and very Santa Fe.