One evening when I was in Houston recently for a trade show, my roommate and I went down to the hotel restaurant for a quick dinner. They had a huge buffet (with an even huger price) set up in the back, and the whole place was crowded with show attendees. We looked at each other, looked at the incredible crush of people bumping elbows with loaded plates and struggling to find an empty seat at the crowded tables. We turned around and went back to an area adjacent to the bar and found a table.
The kitchen was busy and service was slow, as was to be expected. But we had an attentive waiter of impeccable charm who brought us soup and salads and a basket of freshly made crackers, and checked on us as often as he was able. It was one of the few nice things that happened during that stay.
My roommate suggested the tortilla soup, which she had had a couple of nights earlier, and when it came I had to agree that it was absolutely wonderful. Just spicy enough, with lovely little identifiable bits of onion, tomato, and green chile along with chunks of chicken in a perfectly creamy base. The tortillas too -- sliced in very thin ribbons, crisp but not greasy, they gave a final wonderful crunch in every bite. We ate it all.
You know it's a good soup when the memory of it lingers. I came home and wanted more soup like that, but there was something different, something mysterious about that soup that I was determined to identify and duplicate.
I made tortilla soup. I used a couple of good recipes that I'd tried before, but they weren't the same. Something about the soup itself, I thought. It wasn't the spicing -- that I was happy with -- or the tortilla strips. No, it was that elusive creaminess to the soup that wasn't created by cream (no suggestion of fat) or a flour thickener (different mouthfeel) or even cornstarch or masa (different taste).
One evening, as I was working on the third batch, it hit me out of the blue. The secret ingredient. The answer to the Perfect Tortilla Soup.
Beans.
Specifically pinto beans, cooked and mashed with a little garlic and a little cumin, then swirled into the soup to thicken the broth and add that final je ne sais quoi to a quintessentially southwestern meal. I had a can of pinto beans handy, so I did just that. Drained and rinsed them, mashed with some garlic powder and some cumin, added a dollop of the mixture to the soup and whisked it in. It completely melded with the broth, leaving no trace of its beany origin, thickening and adding a little color.
Perfect. No, beyond perfect. Sublime.
This version is modified for ease of construction. I generally roast a chicken or two on the weekend and make stock to have on hand, but I've offered quick substitutes here to make this more of a pantry soup.
Secret Ingredient Sublime Tortilla Soup
* 2 tablespoons canola or corn oil*
* 1 onion, chopped
* 2 cloves garlic, chopped (more if you like garlic)
* 3 boneless chicken breast halves, cubed
* 2 cans chopped tomatoes with their juices
* 6 cups chicken stock (canned is okay)
* 2 cans Hatch green chiles, chopped (or seed and chop 2 real green chiles, if you are feeling ambitious and have them handy)
* 1/2 can, more or less, prepared refried beans (or about a cup of cooked pinto beans, mashed with about 1/2 tsp garlic powder and 1/2 tsp cumin)
*I think olive oil lends too strong a taste, so I recommend using an essentially flavorless oil here.
- In a large soup pot over medium-high heat, heat the oil and sauté the onion and garlic until soft and translucent but not browned, about 10 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes, chicken stock, chopped chiles, and chicken. Stir well and turn heat to low. Cover the pot and allow to simmer for about 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
- While that's cooking, prepare the tortilla strips.
* 4 corn tortillas, halved and cut into 1/4 inch strips
Spray a baking sheet with Pam cooking spray and arrange the strips in a single layer. Bake at 400° for 15-20 minutes, turning after 10 minutes, or until the strips are crispy and slightly browned. (You can also deep-fry them, but to my taste this makes them too greasy.)
- Back to the soup. When the chicken is done, whisk in the beans. Season to taste with salt and pepper. If it's too mild, you can add some cayenne pepper or a shot of hot sauce until it tastes right.
Top each serving with a dab of sour cream and guacamole. Sprinkle some tortilla strips on top. I don't think it needs shredded cheese, but my husband always puts some shredded Jack or mozzarella on top of his.
This is even better if you can make it a day ahead and reheat just before serving.
Serves 4 easily.
This is so good, all you need is a simple green salad with it. It would also be easy to make completely vegetarian by substituting vegetable broth for the chicken stock and omitting the chicken and sour cream.
An update on the bogus hotel charge situation I wrote about last week: The hotel refunded all the incorrect charges plus my bank fees and tracked down what happened. In a nutshell, someone else with the same last name as me checked in at roughly the same time I did. The desk clerk somehow failed to get a credit card number for that other person. Instead of calling the guest and asking her to come down and present a card, the desk clerk looked on the computer, saw my card on a room with the same last name, assumed we were the same person, and manually entered my card on the other person's tab.
The hotel has taken steps to be sure that this won't happen again, they tell me, and they did offer a nice compensation. So I will go back next year and eat tortilla soup again, after all.