Tortilla Soup with Homemade Tortilla Strips

Wait a second did I hear you just say you've never had tortilla soup? Let's put a stop to this madness right now. This is one of those soups that you shouldn't miss. It has tons of chicken, beans, peppers, corn, avocados and of course tortilla strips. You will be licking the bottom of your bowl and probably going back for seconds. It really is that good.

Now if you won't want to make your own stock that's totally cool but I highly recommend it. You get so much more flavor plus you can use the chicken meat for this dish. Kind of a kill 2 birds with 1 stone type of situation. Also you don't have to make your own tortilla strips and if you choose not to, then I suggest blue corn chips as an alternative. Plus I use pasillo chiles and those can be swapped with anything. So can the beans.

If you have any questions please let me know.

Ingredients
- 10 white corn tortillas cut into strips
- peanut oil for frying
- kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon green tobasco
- 1 red onion, diced
- 2 pasillo chiles, stemmed, seeds removed, diced
- 2 jalapenos, stemmed, seeds removed, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 whole chicken, meat removed and shredded
- 1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup frozen corn kernals
- 1 14.5 ounce can tomato sauce
- 8 cups good chicken stock found here
- 2 tablespoons chicken base or cubes if using my stock
- 1 tablespoon chile powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 2 avacados
- 1 cup shredded cheddar
- cilantro, roughly chopped for garnish
- sour cream

The Process
1. In a heavy bottom pot or deep fryer, heat up enough peanut oil to fill up half the pan. When the oil is hot at about 375, add the tortilla pieces and fry the pieces until they are browned stirring to make sure they don't stick. Remove from oil and place on a paper towel to allow the excess oil to drain. Place in a bowl with Tabasco and season with salt and toss well . Set aside.
2. In a large stock pot, add the oil, onion, chilis and garlic over medium high heat and saute, stirring well, for about 8 minutes or until the veggies sweat. Then add the chicken, beans, corn, tomato sauce, chicken stock, (chicken base if needed), chili powder, cumin and mix well. Season with salt and bring to a boil. Reduce to low and simmer for 30 minutes.
3. To serve, place the avocado and fried tortilla pieces in 4 separate bowls. Then ladel the soup into each bowl and cover with cheese, cilantro and a nice scoop of sour cream.
4. Enjoy!