chicken broth

Chicken and White Bean Salsa Soup

~ rphootman ~ 1 Comment

A healthy and flavorful soup to brighten a blustery day.

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Ingredients:

  • 5 cups chicken stock
  • 3 boneless chicken breasts
  • 2 teaspoons cumin
  • 2 teaspoons crumbled dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 package frozen cut spinach
  • 2 16-oz. cans great northern beans
  • 2 quarts roasted salsa verde

Process:

Bring chicken stock to boil over a medium heat in a large pot. Stir in cumin, oregano, pepper, and salt. Add chicken breasts. Allow to boil for 5 minutes, reduce heat to simmer, cover pot and cook until the chicken is fully cooked and easily shreds, approximately 1 hour.

Remove chicken from broth and set aside to cool.

Add frozen spinach to broth over medium heat and bring to boil. Reduce to simmer and add the beans and salsa verde.

Shred cooled chicken and add to broth.

Cover pot and simmer over low heat for approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Serve immediately.

Makes approximately 5 quarts.

Serving suggestion:

Serve with green chile bread with red chile pod sauce, and a green salad topped with fresh fruit on the side.

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Red Chile Pod Sauce

~ rphootman ~ Leave a comment

Nothing better than homemade red chile pod sauce. Excellent dipping sauce for quesadillas or green chile bread. Use it to make enchiladas or use it to make a braising sauce for pork deshebrada. I even use it as a base for my raspberry chipotle barbeque sauce.

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Ingredients:

  • 30 or so large dried red New Mexico chile pods
  • 3 to 5 chiles de arbol (more, if you like a spicier chile sauce)
  • 4 cups water plus 1/2 cup
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 cup minced onion
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced and peeled or equivalent of pre-minced garlic
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons crumbled dried oregano
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 3 cups chicken broth
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons packed light brown sugar

Process:

Stem the chile pods, including the chiles de arbol and slit them open. I use kitchen shears. Remove as many seeds as possible and cut chiles into 1 inch strips. Rinse chiles briefly under cold water. and place in large bowl or pan that can be covered.

Bring the 4 cups water to a boil and pour it over the chile pieces. Cover and let stand, stirring occasionally (maybe twice) until cool.

Place chiles and water in blender (I use a Kitchen Ninja…it is incredible). Blend until the chile puree is smooth. Strain the puree through a fine mesh strainer set over a bowl. Add 1/2 cup water to blender to clean blades and container. Add to puree in strainer. Force the chile puree through the strainer with a stiff rubber spatula. Seeds and tough bits of peel will remain in the strainer and can be discarded.

In a medium saucepan over low heat, warm the olive oil. Add the onions, garlic, cumin, and oregano and cook uncovered, stirring often, for 5 minutes. Whisk in the flour and cook, stirring and mashing the flour mixture, for 2 minutes. Whisk in the chile pod puree, chicken broth, salt, cider vinegar, and brown sugar. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer, partially covered, stirring once or twice, for 20 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened. Remove from the heat, cool to room temperature, and transfer to a storage container. Makes about 3 1/2 quarts.

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