Creamy Mexican-Style Turkey Soup

 

I can't believe it's been since the beginning of August since I last posted to the blog. The gardening is done, the canning complete, the vegetables in the freezer...gone. Yeah, had a mishap and the freezer went kaput on us and we lost all of our wonderful frozen veggies from the garden. Oh well. It was still a wonderful learning experience, and we will get a new freezer for next years harvest. Since the gardening season has finished, we have kept busy on indoor projects like remodeling the bathroom and basement. Now here we are the week after Thanksgiving and only three weeks until Christmas. How time flies! But even though Thanksgiving is over, there is still plenty of turkey to eat! Each year I look around the net for new and creative ways to use up some of the left over turkey. This year I went with a mexican-style soup that is a most excellent comfort food. I don't remember which site I got the original recipe from, but I think it was in a list of 10 great ideas for leftover turkey or something along those lines. At any rate, I made a couple of changes to the recipe to go with my own personal taste and ingredients that I had on hand. This is fairly easy to make and comes together quickly. Enjoy!

 

Ingredients

 

2 Tbls vegetable or olive oil

1 carrot chopped into bite sized pieces (or you can cut up a bunch of those mini carrots. Thats what I did since that is all I had in the fridge).

1 stalk of celery cut into bite sized pieces.

1 sweet onion, diced

2 1/2 Tbls of minced garlic (jar or fresh)

3 cups stock (I used store bought chicken stock, but you can make your own from the turkey as well)

1 can diced chilies, drained

2 cups whole milk

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ancho chile pepper powder

1/2 tsp ground cumin

2 1/2 cups shredded turkey

3/4 cup corn

1 bunch of cilantro leaves chopped

1 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese

 

Preparation

 

In a large stockpot, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, carrots and celery and saute' for a few minutes. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat until its just simmering and add one cup of the turkey, the corn and the green chilies. Let simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the rest of the turkey.

 

In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, flour, salt, ancho chile pepper powder and cumin. Stir this mixture into your soup pot and continue to stir for a few minutes as the soup thickens. Stir in the cheese and cilantro and let simmer a few more minutes so the cheese all melts in. Continue to stir occassionally throughout the whole cooking process to keep every incorporated and ensuring nothing sticks to the bottom of your pot. Serve hot and enjoy! Goes great with a glass of Pinot Grigio!

 

 

 

Chicken and Cheese Enchiladas

Well it seems as though everything is about food and recipes so far, but I have not currently been in gardening, brewing or project mode.  This recipe is not for the dieter or the the weak of heart (since this will probably cause any working arteries you have to seize up), however if you aren't worried about that and just want something that is easy to make and damn delicious, then please proceed with wild abandon.

You have a couple of options here with the chicken. You can buy raw chicken and then cook and shred it to your preference, or you can take the easy way out like I did, and just buy a rotisserie chicken from your local grocery store and dress it up from there. With cooking and prep this took me a little under an hour to make.

Ingredients

1 Rotisserie chicken
2 Cups Monterey Jack Cheese (shredded)
3/4 stick of butter
2 Cups chicken broth
3 Tablespoons All Purpose Flour
1 Cup Sour Cream
1 4 oz. can of Green Chiles
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. garlic powder (feel free to add more for your taste preference)
1 tsp. cracked or ground black pepper
10 flour tortillas
1/4 Cup Fresh Cilantro chopped

Preparation

Remove about 2 cups worth of the chicken and shred it with a fork and knife. You can leave the skin on as well as it makes a tasty addition. If you have used raw chicken and cooked it yourself, just make about two cups shredded. Add the chicken to a sauce pan or large non stick fry pan. Put on a very low heat and add the cumin, garlic powder and black pepper. Stir well to ensure all the chicken is incorporated well with your spices and leave on low heat for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a sauce pan on medium high heat melt the butter. Once the butter is melted, whisk in your flour. Continue to whisk for a couple minutes until the butter and flour are bubbly and thick. Then add the chicken broth. Whisk together and then leave on heat until the mixture thickens in consistency and  begins to bubble. Turn heat down to low so as not to boil the mixture as you are now going to incorporate your sour cream (but you don't want it to curdle in a super high heat). Whisk in the sour cream and then add the green chiles. Leave on the heat for a couple more minutes while continuing to stir and then turn off heat.

Now that the chicken has cooled some, you will add 1 cup of the monterey jack cheese to the chicken and mix it together. Put some of your chicken and cheese mixture on a tortilla and then roll it up and place it in a glass baking dish. Continue to do this with each tortilla until you have filled the bottom of your dish. I think I used a 9x12 pan and it held 10 of these, which used all of my chicken and cheese. Now pour your sour cream and green chile sauce over all of the tortillas. Add the remaining 1 cup of monterey jack cheese on top. Bake in a 350 F oven for 20 minutes. Then remove from the oven and turn your broiler on high. Place the dish under the broiler for about 1-2 minutes or until your cheese on top gets a nice crispy brown.

When you serve your enchiladas, top them with the fresh chopped cilantro. I also included a side of black beans. (1 15oz. can heated with 1 tsp of cumin).

These enchiladas are rich and tasty!