My dear friend Velda Arthur is one of the best cooks around. She runs and catering company and everything I have EVER made of hers is down right amazing.
She sent me this Tortilla Soup recipe last night from The Crescent Court in Downtown Dallas. I have been to this place too and it is divine!
I also LOVE all her short cuts...my kinda woman!

It is supposed to get down to 20 below zero in Colorado Springs tomorrow...I believe it is soup time...

Tortilla Soup

A couple of weeks ago I ate with a friend at the Crescent Court (Crescent Hotel) near downtown Dallas. We ordered the tortilla soup....it was so good that we contacted them and asked for the recipe. We could not believe it, but the chef actually sent us the recipe.



I took some short cuts with the recipe for a dinner party tonight. One of my guests was the friend I had eaten with at the club. He said mine was better than what we had eaten there...just proves that short cuts are absolutely OK!!!



This was one of the fastest and easiest soups I've ever made.



3 Tbsp Corn Oil

4 Corn Tortillas

6 cloves garlic

1 medium onion chopped

2 cups tomato puree (or you could use crushed tomatoes)

1 Tbsp cilantro chopped

1 Tbsp Cumin

2 tsp chili powder

2 qts chicken stock

Cayenne pepper to taste

Salt to taste



Fry corn tortillas and set aside. Heat oil in large pan, add onion and cook 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook1 minute. Add fried tortillas, chicken stock, tomato puree, cilantro, cumin and chili powder. Simmer 20 minutes. Use immersion blender to make smooth (or you could put in a blender...be careful of hot liquids). Adjust consistency. Add cayenne and salt to taste.



Place the following garnishes in a bowl (pile them up to look pretty!)...

1/4 cup diced chicken per person

Diced avocado (I used 1/2 avocado per person)

Fried tortilla strips

Shredded jack cheese



Ladle liquid over the above and serve. I served it with mexican cornbread.



Now for the shortcuts...I was in a HUGE time crunch and these really cut back on my prep time....



I used purchased tortilla chips for both applications. I guessed at what I thought would be four tortillas. I ended up adding extra because I wanted it thicker.



I also used frozen chopped onions.



Thought I had chicken stock and didn't so I used chicken buillion, mixed it in water and it worked perfectly.



Also, I did not use any cayenne as one of my guests can't do spicy. It didn't need the cayenne.



I used rotisserie chicken and also put the cilantro in whole. You're going to blend it up anyway so no need to spend time chopping???



I purchased a bag of shredded jack cheese which saved me time shredding cheese.



You could also add a dollop of sour cream, lime wedge and spring of cilantro to garnish.



Enjoy!!!