Some of the recipes may come directly from the cookbook, but more than likely Betty’s recipes will be our inspiration.  That’s the case with the tortilla soup we fixed for Sunday dinner.

The original recipe calls for a mixture of herbs and spices but since we already had “Mexican Blend” from Morton & Bassett Celeste decided to just work with it.

I roasted the chicken in my Char-Broil Smoker Roaster Grill the day before.  Seasoned it with the “Mexican Blend” with most of the seasoning going under the skin.  The hope was to impart some of the flavor into the meat prior to putting it in the soup.

The Smoker Roaster Grill uses infrared to “fry” your food without the use of oil.  The SRG is the newest version of Char-Broils “Big Easy.”  Last night we used it to grill skirt steak and acorn squash.  There’s a lot of versatility with the appliance.  I know Char-Broil says it’s fried but I think chicken comes out much more like the rotisserie chicken you buy at the grocery store that tastes so good.

The simplicity of cooking on the SRG is one of the biggest attractions.  Season whatever your cooking, turn on the SRG and drop the basket in.  Just let it cook.  After a little while you’ve got the nicest food you could ever hope for.  In this case it was golden brown chicken with nice crispy skin.

After cooling I pulled the breast meat off for the tortilla soup and the thighs and legs when into the freezer for another time.

Mrs Grail’s Tortilla Soup

Adapted/Inspired by Sunday Soup by Betty Robottom

Ingredients:

• 8 cups Chicken Broth
• 2 large cooked Chicken Breasts cut into 1″ pieces
• 2 Yellow Bell Peppers, stemmed, seeded and cut into 1/2″ pieces
• 2 28 oz cans Diced Tomatoes (one can well drained)
• 1 tablespoon Morton & Bassett “Mexican Blend”
• 2 teaspoons Cumin
• 1 1/2 tablespoon minced Garlic
• 1 1/2 cups chopped Onion
• 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
• 2 1/2 teaspoons “Art of Chipotle” Gourmet Paste
• 6 to 7 tortillas
• Sour Cream
• Cilantro
• Lime wedges

Directions:

In a large heavy bottom pot or dutch oven sautee the onions in olive oil until they have softened.  Add garlic and cook for an additional minute.  Add Chipotle paste, “Mexican Blend, cumin, tomatoes and chicken broth.  Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.  Puree the soup.  You can use a blender, food processor or other appliance.  We used an immersion blender to puree the soup right in the pot.

Bring the soup to a simmer over medium heat and add chicken and peppers.  Cook through until the peppers are tender.  The original recipe calls for raw chicken pieces, if you do this just make sure the chicken pieces are throughly cooked before serving. 

Cut tortillas into strips and fry to crispy. 

Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with sour cream, cilantro and tortilla strips.

Ingredients:

• 12 Vine Ripened Tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
• 2 garlic gloves, peeled and smashed
• 3 cups Vegetable Stock
• 1 cup Tomato juice (I used V8 Juice.  Next time I’ll use Spicy V8 for a little more kick.)
• Pinch of Chili Flakes
• Pinch of sugar
• Salt (Kosher or Sea)
• 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 tablespoons Oregano
• 1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olice Oil
• 3 sprigs of Fresh Basil leaves, coarsely chopped

Preparation:

Pre-heat your grill.

Brush tomatoes with a slight coating of olive oil and grill them for 15 to 20 minutes or until the skin scorches and begins to peel.  Place tomatoes in a plastic bag and set aside to cool.

Peel and roughly chop 8 of the tomatoes.  Save all the juices and discard the peels.  Place the flesh and juice of the peeled tomatoes in a sauce pan with the remaining olive oil, garlic, vegetable stock, tomato juice, chili flakes, sugar, salt.

Simmer for 15 minutes.  Season with pepper and additional salt to taste.  Remove the garlic.

Place the four saved tomatoes in four warm bowls and ladle the soup over the top.  Garnish with a bit of parmesan cheese, oregano leaves and the fresh chopped basil.  Drizzle the soup with the extra virgin olive oil.