I have a confession to make.  I am a soup-a-holic.  I could eat soup every single day.  And the best thing about soup is that you can make it out of pretty much anything you have on hand.  I had some left-over enchilada sauce I had made, some fresh salsa and chicken thighs.  Then I threw in celery, carrots, tortilla chips and cheese.  Voi la! Delicious Mexican inspired Chicken Tortilla soup. The fresh salsa makes this recipe and is super easy to make.

The salsa recipe I learned on a recent trip to Mexico.  It’s super simple and enhances everything from tacos to eggs.

Authentic Mexican Salsa
4 Roma tomatoes*
1 Jalepeno
1/4 white onion diced
2 cloves garlic
1 bunch cilantro
juice of a lemon or lime
salt and pepper to taste

Boil the tomatoes and jalapeno until soft (about 10 minutes).  This trick helps the salsa keep longer in the refrigerator.  Set aside to cool.

Place onion and garlic in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade.  Pulse until finely chopped.  Add tomatoes, lemon juice, jalapeno and cilantro.  Process until smooth.  Taste for salt and add according to your preference.

NEVER tell anyone how easy this is because they are all going to want your secret.  I make a batch and it’s gone in 24 hours.  A container of “fresh salsa” from the supermarket will languish for a week or longer, sometimes until it’s t thrown away.

**  I suggest Roma tomatoes because in Florida they are the most flavorful available.  Any red tomato with flavor will work fine.

I posted my recipe for salsa rojo (enchilada sauce) previously along with the recipe for Turkey Chilaquiles.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

4 bone-in chicken thighs skin removed
1/2 white onion diced
1 clove garlic minced
2 large carrots peeled and cut into large pieces (spoon sized)
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup enchilada sauce
salt and pepper for taste
tortilla chips, fresh salsa, cheese and lemon or lime wedges for garnish

Place chicken thighs in water and bring to a slow boil.  Cook for 30 minutes until done, remove to cool.  Taste the broth, If it isn’t rich enough you can add some chicken broth (which I did).    Add onion, garlic carrots, celery and enchilada sauce to the pot.  Allow to simmer while chicken cools, about 45 minutes.  Remove chicken from the bone, add to the pot and heat through.  Taste for salt and adjust seasoning (soups should be salted at the end of cooking to avoid over-salting as the liquid reduces.

Crush tortilla chips in the bottom of the bowl, add soup and top with cheese, fresh salsa and a squeeze fresh lemon.

Simple, not too hot and perfect for a summer afternoon!

Hope you enjoy this!

I am excited to enter the Kitchen Bootcamp Sauce Challenge with my authentic Mexican salsa recipe  for Salsa Verde which is also known as green sauce.  This sauce isn’t covered in the Professional Cook but my green sauce recipe is so simple and tasty I’m sure you’ll be making it for your family.  It’s similar to a French sauce Tomate or Italian marinara sauce in terms of preparation and is based on cilantro, tomatillos, yellow bell pepper, garlic and chicken stock.

Setting about making my green salsa and writing this post took me back to why I started making it.  The thing about being spoiled is that you  don’t know you are spoiled until something changes.  I’m from California.  I grew up not realizing that Mexican food is ethnic food, I just knew it as good food.  I assumed that everyone had access to hand made salsa, tacos, tamales and little off the wall restaurants where the sauces were made fresh using family recipes handed down for generations.  I lived in a version of food paradise and I took it for granted.

Then, I moved to Florida.  Sure, we have “Mexican” restaurants here.  The quotation marks are there to indicate that these restaurants impersonate, possibly even insult real Mexican cooking.  Sauces come in 100 oz cans tortillas in bags.  I searched and searched for a restaurant to become my regular place, but alas it was to no avail.

And so, I learned to cook the foods I craved.  I searched online for people sharing their family secrets and I started making my own sauces.  Living in California, Salsa Rojo was my favorite but now that I make my own, Mexican green sauce is my hands down favorite.  Once you have it on hand it’s perfect for making chicken, pork or cheese enchiladas, chilaquiles, chile verde, green rice, tamales or simply having special chips and salsa.

Making it reminds me of making my Italian red sauce.  I never quite make it the same.  Poblano chili’s have amazing flavor but they aren’t consistent in heat so you have to taste it.  If you want this sauce to be amazing use home made chicken stock you can also slow simmer pork or chicken in it to make the flavor even richer.  Another hint don’t salt it until it’s reduced to the point you want — otherwise you may end up oversalting.   I posted on making turkey stock, the method is the same for chicken.

Mexican Green Salsa Recipe

2 large yellow bell peppers
4 Poblano chilies
2lbs Tomatillos
1 large white onion
6 cloves garlic
2 bunches Cilantro
2 Tbsp Mexican oregano
2 Tbsp Cumin
3 cups Chicken Stock (roughly)
Salt and Pepper to taste.

Optional:
Grill the bell peppers, chilis, tomatillos and onion after lightly coating with vegetable oil this will give you great smoky flavor.

If you choose not to grill them then sweat the vegetables until soft in a large Dutch oven over medium low heat.

When vegetables are soft puree in a food processor, add one bunch of cilantro and garlic.  Return to Dutch Oven and add chicken stock, oregano and cumin.  Simmer for at least 2 hours until it reaches the consistency you desire, I shoot for something similar to spaghetti sauce.  Return some of the sauce to the food processor and puree with the remaining bunch of cilantro.  (I like to add the cilantro in two phases as you get brighter flavor).

Taste and add salt and pepper to your liking.  You can also add sugar.  If your taste buds crave more heat add one or two Jalapeno chillies at the beginning.

Tip: This Salsa freezes well so double the batch and keep some on hand!

I used this last batch for Pork Enchiladas!  I slow cooked a pork but with onions and garlic, shredded it and combined with flour tortilla’s, Monterey Jack Cheese, and baked them until golden brown (about 45 minutes at 375 degrees)

Enchilada Assembly Station

When assembling the enchiladas, coat the base of your pan with green sauce, dip each tortilla in sauce, fill with cheese and meat, roll tightly and place in the pan.  Top with more cheese.

Assembling the enchilada

Ready for the oven!

Unfortunately I got so excited about eating that I forgot to take pictures of the final product!

Chilaquiles is a Mexican comfort food dish, occasionally even a hangover cure, and sometimes a way to use up leftovers.  I LOVE IT!  I intentionally chose an soft focus photo because casseroles are inherently out of focus — which is part of their attraction.

I posted a recipe for chilaquiles back in April.  For that recipe I used chicken, salsa verde and chorizo.  This time around I had the turkey from the stock hanging out and some dried ancho chili peppers so I made a rojo sauce and then threw together (because that’s all you do, you throw it together and pop it in the oven) the casserole.  It was indeed a hit.

Salsa Rojo (This could even be called “enchilada sauce”)

1 pint homemade chicken stock (cheat if you must, but your sauce will suffer)
4 dried ancho chilies
1 clove garlic
1 Tbsp Tomato paste
1 sprig fresh oregano (leaves only) or 1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp cumin
1 bay leaf
salt

Combine ingredients in a heavy saucepan over low heat.  Walk away.  Allow to simmer for at least two hours.  The brittle peppers should be soft.  Remove bay leaf.  Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Open the peppers and scrape the soft flesh (and seeds) into blender, add the remaining liquid and puree.  Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary (I added some additional cumin at this stage)

Return to pot and simmer until desired thickness.

Turkey Chilaquiles

3 Cups cooked shredded turkey
1lb tortilla chips (flour or corn – your choice)
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
3 Cups Salsa Rojo
1 small can sliced black olives

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Layer a 9×13 pan with 1/2 of turkey, 1/2 chips, 1/2 salsa rojo, repeat with remaining ingredients, top with olives and bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Enjoy

Perfect Turkey Stock

I have  a love-hate relationship with Thanksgiving.  I love to cook, I love to entertain and I love to eat.  Every year I look forward to Thanksgiving with high anticipation and every year by 4:00 on Thanksgiving day I’m in bed cuddled up with a bottle of wine and a bad attitude saying “I will NEVER EVER do this again!”

I typically start cooking on Tuesday and don’t stop until we sit down to eat.  My post gastric bypass sized stomach means I’m done eating in roughly 10 minutes (but there are leftovers!).  Then I get up and do dishes because guests shouldn’t.  I  usually miss the parade either because I’m cooking, or because my Dad arrives and declares that the addition of Broadway acts ruined the parade and immediately changes the channel.

This year my little condo is going to be home to 9 people and 2 dogs.  Typically we are 3 people and one dog.  There will be people (I love) everywhere and, I’m sure they are going to try to help.  That’s another post for another day, but I dread help.  I’m a very bad delegater and I’m a complete control freak.  Help me by making sure my wine glass is full and staying in the living room.

Anyway, this post is about to spiral into a full blown rant and rave which was not my intention.  My intention was to write about stock.  Michael Ruhlman is nearly religious about stock, and so am I.  I’m that way for two reasons, one, because it’s so much less expensive and two, because homemade stock is so much better.  You may not realize it but stock is the foundation of your meal.  It will determine the flavor of your stuffing, your mashed potatoes, your gravy, and maybe even some of your vegetable side dishes.  If you look at it this way you can see the negative impact bad or even mediocre stock will have on a dish.

I have some rules or declarations about stock:

1. Stock is NOT hard to make.  Stock IS time consuming.  They are not the same thing.
2. Stock should be simple.  Simple doesn’t mean flavorless, it meas simple.  Don’t over salt, don’t add strong spices.  Use aromatic vegetables, parsley, bones and meat.  You can add all the herbs you like and spices to whatever you make with the stock.  If you add the spices while making the stock you limit your cooking choices later.
3. Stock should be clear.

I know I’ve made a good stock when I absolutely can’t resist putting it in a coffee cup and having some.  Which technically means I’ve made broth.  (Broth is intended to be served, stock is intended to be the foundation of another dish).  This batch of stock was so good I had two cups with the brioche I made.

Last year I violated rule number 2.  I can’t remember which magazine I was reading, but all their recipes for stock had parsnips and lots of onion.  At the time I was not aware of the fact that I don’t like parsnips or that the recommended amount of onion was overpowering.  Further they suggested additional seasonings that that rendered the stock unpleasant in my opinion.  As a result last year I truly hated my gravy and stuffing.  As you can tell, I’m STILL pouting about it.

After that dismal result I spent a lot of time experimenting with stock.  I made it with more vegetables, more herbs I cooked it faster, lower.  I tried everything only to realize that I prefer the most simple stock flavorings: a couple carrots, a couple ribs of celery and my secret — leeks (rather than onions).  Lots of bones and low and slow cooking.

I made what amounted to a 1 1/2 gallons of stock for roughly $6.   We bought two packages of turkey wings — roughly 6 pounds for about $5.  I like using wings to make stock because the meat is cheap so if I don’t reuse it I don’t feel guilty and wings are bony — so there’s lots body to the stock.   I cut the wings into three pieces (at the joints) and distributed them in two pots.  I covered with cold water and brought them to a full boil.  This releases blood and impurities and prevents your stock from developing a scum.  Once the wings came to a boil I removed them from the pot, rinsed them and thoroughly rinsed the pots out.  (This is important, the bits clinging to the pot are not frond, they are the scum which will give your stock an off flavor).

Then I returned the wings to the pots and covered them with cold water added salt and put them over medium low heat (about 4 on my electric stove).

I put my remote thermometer in and set it to alert at 165 — my goal was to keep the water below 170.  I learned this from Michael Ruhlman’s “The Elements of Cooking.”  Boiling creates scum and introduces impurities that prevent the stock from being clear.  A little something interesting; both of the pots I used are the same size (7qt) both are Le Creuset but the oval shaped pot held more heat.

Notice — the vegetables are not in the pot yet.

After the stock had simmered for about 3 hours (I checked it often and used color not the clock as my guide.  I was looking to see body and a light gold color).  Now I was ready to add vegetables.  I used two leeks, 4 carrots and the heart of one stalk of celery as my vegetables.  Using a large saute pan and working in batches I caramelized the vegetables.  This added color and flavor.

I let the stock simmer about 30 minutes longer and removed the bones and vegetables.

I strained the stock twice using cheesecloth and did my best to skim the fat off.  After it cooled I refrigerated it and removed the rest of the fat then I transferred it to pint sized containers and froze it.

The photo at the top is my finished stock.  If you want to know more I highly recommend Michael Ruhlman “The Elements of Cooking.” Half the knowledge in this post was obtained through trial and error and the rest I learned from him.  This is truly my favorite batch of turkey stock ever.

Look out gravy here I come!

The Sauce

This post is dedicated to Tony, a great cook and even better friend who shared his mother’s recipe and methods with me.

Sauce, Gravy, Spaghetti Sauce, Red Sauce, Marinara call it anything you want, just please don’t buy it in a jar. In fact, please join the Society For the Elimination of Sauce in a Jar on Facebook

Does the idea of potted meat gross you out as much as it does me? (it should!) Do you watch the “gourmet” cat food commercial and at the end think “you aren’t fooling me, that’s garbage meat with salt, chemicals and a couple peas thrown in.” If so, you are right! If not, this may be the wrong blog for you. Things that come pre-cooked in jars are made with the cheapest ingredients available, including vegetables you would throw away. Then because the color isn’t right (because the vegetables weren’t good) they add dye. Next they add things to make it taste like sauce, but not herbs and spices; instead they use inexpensive chemicals and sugar. Now here’s the fun part — they charge you MORE for that jar of inferior sauce than you’d ever pay for making it yourself.

I can hear your thoughts. I can see the rigid posture, the wary stare you are giving me. “Fine, it tastes better and it may be a little less expensive, but how long is this going to take and is it really that good?” YES it’s that much better and it won’t take long. Sauce is my Sunday morning activity. It took me 17 minutes to get the ingredients into the pot and walk away. Then another 15 minutes tasting (oh such hard work) and dishing it up for storage. It simmered for 2 hours and made my house smell like heaven in a way no air freshener could. (Is it hard to believe I was the fat kid

Please; make the sauce. You’ll be happy, your family will be happy, the sun will shine, birds will sing all will be right with the world.

Tomatoes

A word about tomatoes. All tomatoes are not created equal. If you are lucky enough to have a garden where your tomatoes actually taste like tomatoes then making sauce is even more fun and you get to use a food mill! For the rest of us, skip the produce aisle. The tasteless “fresh” tomatoes available in the supermarket are picked green, gassed and allowed to turn red in a warehouse (I can’t call that “ripening”) In this case canned tomatoes are superior.

But not all canned tomatoes are created equal. Tomatoes need sun, dry climate and volcanic ash in order to taste good. The one place you find this trifecta of goodness is in Italy. Buy Italian tomatoes, preferably San Marzano. Don’t buy “Italian Style” tomatoes, you are not getting what you pay for in flavor or quality. More of the manipulation by the food marketers … but I digress. In my Publix, Cento Italian Plum tomatoes are available for about $2.60 per 28oz can. Other tomatoes are about $2.00 per 28oz can so we aren’t talking about a huge extra expense by any stretch of the imagination. Recently at Costco, I was able to purchase 100oz cans of Nina brand San Marzano Tomatoes for $3.60 per can (making them less per ounce than the garbage tomatoes in the supermarket).

Italian tomatoes typically come with basil in the can. I went a little nutty in a quest to find them without the basil because I like to season my own sauce. In the end (read one year and two prescriptions later) I determined that a little basil in a large can is not like buying the diced tomatoes that are mixed with peppers or garlic (which are always over seasoned) There’s very little basil flavor imparted in the sauce. I remove the gross basil when I open the can and add fresh from my garden.

THE SAUCE
Olive oil to coat the pan
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 large white onion, sliced
4 carrots, peeled and chopped to 1/2 inch
8 – 10 whole cloves garlic *See Note
1T dried oregano
2 280z cans Italian Tomatoes
1/2 jar roasted red peppers (optional)
6T fresh chopped Italian parsley
6T fresh chopped basil
Generous dash Worcestershire sauce (measuring I’m going to say 4T but I don’t measure)
Kosher salt to taste (at least 3T)
Fresh ground black pepper

Heat the pan over medium high. Put the pepper flakes into the cold oil. When they start to “dance” in the pan you know your oil is hot. Add the onions and carrots. Cook until the onions are getting some color and the carrots start to soften; — about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and oregeno. Cook 3 – 4 minutes longer taking care to soften but not burn the garlic.

Add tomatoes and remaining ingredients to the pan. Bring to a simmer and let cook for at least 20 minutes cooking

longer won’t hurt. Taste for seasoning. Stir to break down the tomatoes, you are just breaking them up, this isn’t about consistency.

Let it simmer 20 minutes longer and taste it. At this point nobody knows what I’ll do, sometimes I decide we need a splash of wine, sometimes I put some beef broth in, sometimes hot sauce. It’s always hard to know, but exercise caution here. The Culinary Institute of America would likely cringe to hear me say this, but this is a “mother sauce.” Make it taste good, but don’t over flavor the sauce or it will lose its versatility — more about that later.

Now that you are happy with the taste; here comes the fun part! You need to blend the sauce. For this volume, a stick blender doesn’t work well (if you make a double batch a stick blender will work great and you won’t have to transfer the sauce). You’ll likely have to blend in batches, I filled the blender twice. After the first batch pour the pureed sauce into a bowl and add the remaining sauce from the pot. Then put it all back in the pot and stir and taste for seasoning again.

Now let it simmer another 20 – 40 minutes until it’s at the thickness you want. Allow the sauce to cool and transfer to storage containers. I use 32oz containers that our local Chinese take-out place uses, I just wash and reuse them. This sauce freezes really well. I can’t tell you how long it will last in the freezer because I think our record is 3 weeks. All you have to do is take it out of the freezer in the morning and warm it.

*Note on garlic. I was feeling a little lazy so I bought the pre- peeled garlic in a jar. There’s nothing wrong with it, but it’s not as potent as fresh garlic. I typically double the amount of garlic I’m adding to a recipe if it’s the pre-peeled kind. If you put that much fresh garlic into the sauce you would absolutely not have any vampires around!

Mother Sauce – I use this sauce as a base. Reheat and add a splash of vodka and cream — Penne alla Vodka. Brown some pork and beef, add a dash of cream at the end, Bologanese sauce, heat on the stove top and reduce it a bit — pizza sauce. Add some croutons, maybe a splash of broth or cream, you’ll have fantastic tomato basil soup.

This recipe is a framework. If you like the flavored sauces at the store you can add those flavorings in the intensity you like. I never make this with roasted red peppers, but I had some around so I put them in. I liked it so much it may become a regular feature of the sauce. Try roasting the garlic before you add it to the sauce. (Just take a head of garlic, cut the top off, drizzle olive oil, wrap it in foil and put it in the oven when you are baking something else. It needs aobut 45 minutes at 350) I wouldn’t put mushrooms in the base, if you like mushrooms in your sauce, sautee them, then add the sauce and reheat but they won’t freeze very well. Mushrooms have such a high water content that freezing them changes the texture.

Tell me how you like this recipe! We like this best with plain old red table wine. The food is so good that we don’t even try to be fancy with the wine. Cloud Line Pinot Noir is our “Fancy” choice, about $20 per bottle.

Ciao!
The Whineaux!

Go Wine in the kitchen! You can cook and wine and eat like royalty without paying the restaurant!