Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Chicken Soup with Fire Roasted Tomatoes, Fish Peppers, & Lime

I will spare you the whole (seemingly) obligatory preamble about how there's an autumn chill in the air and it's got me thinking cozy thoughts about soup and blankets and roaring fires and blah, blah, blah.  Besides, there is no weather that is inhospitable to even the hottest of soups, in my humble opinion. This one, for instance, is inspired by a caldo de pavo that I had at a Yucatecan restaurant, Coox Hanal,  on a warm day in Mexico City. It featured one of the things I love so much about many Mexican dishes: the unabashed use of limes.

My version includes a healthy does of fresh lime juice as well, to which I've added fire roasted tomatoes and a local heirloom vegetable, the fish pepper. I had never seen or heard of them until recently, when I discovered them at a farmers market:
They seemed as if they would pack quite a wallop when raw, but oddly, once cooked in the soup they mellowed considerably and lent the broth a subtle peppery spice.

If you've got homemade or store bought chicken stock on hand, this comes together in a snap.

 Chicken Soup with Fire Roasted Tomatoes, Fish Peppers, & Lime
serves 6
1 white onion, diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 fish peppers, minced (or substitute jalapeno peppers)
5 cloves garlic, sliced thin
1 tablespoon dried Mexican oregano
14 ounces diced fire roasted tomatoes (canned)
2  each bone-in skin on chicken breasts and legs
Enough chicken stock to cover plus 2 inches, about 6 cups
1/2 cup fresh squeezed lime juice, plus extra to taste
1 lime cut into thin slices
salt and pepper to taste

For the garnish: 
Strips of fried blue corn tortilla
fresh cilantro
slice of fresh line

In a stock pot over medium heat, fry the onions and peppers in olive oil until the onions are translucent. Add the garlic, dried oregano, and a pinch of salt and cook for 1 - 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and stir to combine. Place the chicken in the pot and cover with the broth. Lower the heat and simmer gently until the chicken is cooked, 30 minutes or so. Remove the chicken and allow to cool. When cool, remove the skin and shred the meat. Add this, along with the lime juice and lime slices,  back to the pot and simmer until the chicken is heated through. Salt and pepper to taste. Be generous with the pepper! Serve garnished with strips of fried tortilla, cilantro, and slices of lime.  Remove the lime slices before storing.

Buen provecho!





11 comments:

  1. Another fantastic Trixification! This was certainly the trip that keeps on inspiring! I'm inspired now too as this is one type of cooking I have always wanted to do. Chill in the air or not.

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  2. Your soup looks good to me, bring on the limes! I would slurp up a bowl of this deliciousness anytime of the year;-)

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  3. I would rather deal with cozy fall blah, blah, blah than chilling winter blah, blah, blah, I must admit.
    Lovely soup - no matter the season!

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  4. Num Trix, there is a chill in the air.. my St.Bernard is coming out of her summer doldrums and chasing a ball again in the park. I feel the same way. Perfect soup for the lovely cool air.

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  5. Oh lovely soup. And love the lime and new pepper which I am not aware of either. Yeah I have a post coming with a quick 'fall' mention too lol.

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  6. That's a deliciously feisty looking soup. I agree, you can have soup in any weather!

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  7. ooh, this looks absolutely delicious, and i could use a little warmth now that there's a chill in the air :/

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  8. This looks like a great morning after dish. Along with some hair of the dog...

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  9. LOL....I better check my next post, I think it has a lot of blah, blah, blah in it ;) Great soup...and I agree about loving soup all year round. Have a great weekend!

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  10. We'll never get that fall chill in the air, but I don't need it to enjoy soup:) I definitely have to make this when my daughter comes down for Thanksgiving as this will evoke the memories of our trip to Yucatan two years ago (where we ate soup every day, even though it was warm:)
    Lovely photo, as usual!

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