Recipe: Chicken Chile Soup/Cream of Green Chile Soup

Here are two soups, one with chicken meat, one without, see if either one will work for you, and good luck.
Jill

CHICKEN CHILE SOUP

1 3 lb. whole chicken
1 gallon of water
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
4 Tbsp. butter
3 C. celery, diced
1 cup carrots, diced
1 cup onions, diced
2 cups canned green chile peppers diced
2 cups heavy cream
salt to taste
pepper to taste
1/2 C cornstarch, dissolved in water

In a large stock pot place the chicken, water, salt, and pepper. Bring the liquid to a boil and then reduce the heat to low. Simmer the chicken for 3 hours, or until it is so tender that it falls apart.
Remove the chicken reserve the broth.
Skin and debone the chicken. Coarsely chop the meat.
In a large saute pan, place the butter and heat it on medium until it has melted. Add the celery, carrots, and onions. Saute the vegtables for 5 minutes, or until they are tender.
Bring the reserved chicken broth to a boil and then reduce the heat. Add the sauteed vegtables, green chile peppers, and heavy cream. Season the soup with the salt and pepper.
While stirring constantly, slowly add the cornstarch mixture so that the desired consistency is achieved.
(You can add more or less cornstarch for a thinner or thicker soup, remember that the soup will thicken the longer it cooks).

I thought that for this next soup you could add pieces of chicken, the soup sounds so good, so here it is.

CREAM OF GREEN CHILE SOUP

2 corn tortillas (you could do one yellow, one blue)
1 C. long green chiles, whole
1/2 stick of unsalted butter (4 Tbsp)
2 C. chopped onion
1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
1/2 tsp. dried oregano, crumbled
2 bay leaves
3 1/2 C. chicken broth, homemade or canned
1 pound baking potatoes, peeled and chunked
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1/3 C. whipping cream
2 C. (about 8 oz) grated Monterey Jack Cheese or Mozzarella cheese or combo of both.

Cut the tortillas into 1/4 inch wide strips and leave them uncovered at room temperature until they are dry and crisp, about 24 hours.
Take any stem or seed out of green chile, and coarsely chop them. There should be about 1 Cup.( you can buy diced green chile)
In a 4-qt. sauce pan over low heat, melt the butter. Add the onion, garlic oregano, and the bay leaves and cook, covered, stirring one or twice for 10 minutes. Stir in the chicken broth, potatoes, salt, and freshly ground black pepper and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, partially covered, stirring one or twice, until the potatoes are very tender, about 25 minutes.
Cool the soup slightly and then force it through the medium blade of a food mill (or discard the bay leaves and puree it in a food processor). Return the soup to the pan, stir in the green chiles, and set over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the soup has thickened, about 15 minutes. Stir in the cream and adjust the seasoning. The soup can be prepared up to 3 days ahead. Heat, until steaming. Laddle the soup into wide bowls, sprinkle the cheese over the soup, and scatter the tortilla strips over the cheese. Serve immediatly. Serves 4-6

and finally, I appologize for any typo errors, I always make sure the ingredients are correct, but sometimes the fingers do not always translate the brain thoughts to correctly spelled words.
JIll