Made an easy soup — sort of; I made the enchilada sauce myself & cooked chicken, but you can buy a can of enchilada sauce & roasted chicken to make it quickly.
Sauté your veggies — I got onions, leek, carrots, celery, and garlic — and add enchilada sauce, stock, chicken, and corn. Simmer until happy. Season well with salt.
You can complicate it with more stuff like Mexican oregano, bay leaves, etc. but basic is good.
Garnish with tortilla chips, avocado, green onions. Bonus points for lime.
@Snarkysteff I often make soup based on rotisserie chickens but I always forget to sauté the veggies first, and I should know better!
@Ideajuice it’s still tasty but sautéing them builds flavour, especially with your choice of fat. :) For this, I used some chicken fat and lard, so you can only imagine. ;)
@Snarkysteff Last time I made soup I skipped the rotisserie chicken because it is already seasoned and used a raw chicken but I just boiled it when I should have roasted it and used the fat to sauté the carrots and celery and such.
Now I am gonna do it the right way! Maybe this weekend.
@Ideajuice you can POACH the chicken to get a lot of flavour but you have to put the flavour in it! Cook it on low heat so it slowly cooks and it will be more tender.
Maybe put half an onion, a head of garlic, some bay leaf, salt, some peppercorns, and use chicken stock to poach the chicken, then set it aside to cook and strain the broth (discard solids) so you have an even more flavourful broth for your soup. :)
@Ideajuice how you flavour the chicken depends on your soup.
It’s best if you SEAR the chicken first before poaching it. Sear it in the same pot you will add liquid to. And only add as much liquid as you need for your soup, so you don’t iver dilute flavours.
@Snarkysteff I buy rotisserie chicken to make tasty chicken on a bun sandwiches! I throw the carcasses in the freezer while they still have a lot of meat and when I get a few together I make a large batch of soup.
@Ideajuice yeah, me too. I make a lot of air fryer “fried chicken” and save my bones for small batches when I know it’s just me eating it.
@Snarkysteff Yeah.. I usually use the breast for a meal or sandwiches. You can get a lot of mileage out of a chicken, especially if you're single!
@Snarkysteff Good advice!
I worked as a cook at a four star restaurant for years, but I was a line cook. The back kitchen was where all the skilled chefs made things like soups or baking.
@Ideajuice ahh! I’ve never worked in the industry but I’ve taught some classes and been a passionate food nerd all my life.
@Snarkysteff line cooks do the short order type stuff which is broiler, oven, fryer, grill and pantry.
Surf and Turf, steaks, appetizers etc. On demand food.
@Ideajuice yep! I know.
@Ideajuice but using rotisserie chicken is great too. If you’re poaching the chicken, use chicken legs, not the breasts.