Chef Willies Chicken Tortilla Soup

• Pre-prep for your chicken:
• 1 whole chicken boned and quartered
• Rub with a combination of:
• 1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro
• 2 Tbl Fresh chopped garlic and a seasoning blend of
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 Tbl paprika
• Then marinate overnight in a combination of
• 1 cup of oil
• Juice of 1 lime
• For the soup:
• 1/2 gallon of chicken stock or broth
• 1/2 gallon of water
• 1 large onion rough chopped
• 1 large sized green pepper rough chopped
• 15 peeled baby carrots cut in half length-wise
• 2 stalk of celery diced small
• 1-2 serrano chilies deseeded and minced
• 2 Tbl paprika
• 2 1/2 -Tbl Chili Powder
• 3-Tbl fresh chopped Garlic
• 1-Tbl whole dried cumin seed
• Light olive oil
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1 10 oz can diced tomatoes any brand
• Garnish:
• 2 cups of your favorite Spanish rice, or Chef Willies Spanish Rice recipe.
• 12 fresh corn tortillas chopped into small French fry size strips and fried in vegetable oil until crisp, salt to taste, or use your favorite fried tortilla chips/strips
• 2 cups of your favorite Pico de Gallo, chunky fresh salsa, or Chef Willies Pico De Gallo Recipe
• 1 1/2 cups Total Shredded cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese
• 1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro
• Avocado Quarters fanned

1. Instructions:
2. In your large pot, saute your vegetables until they become translucent and then add your dried spices and your chopped garlic saute until the vegetable just start to caramelize then add your water, chicken stock/broth, and diced tomatoes with the juice. Bring to the boil and reduce your heat to just a bubble a second. Add a handful of your tortilla chips at this time all crumbled up and mix thoroughly.
3. Using your pre-heated heavy cast iron pan on medium heat, saute your chicken until it is nicely browned on all sides but not cooked through. Place the whole pieces into the soup and take a cup of your soup stock and pour into the cast iron pan and lightly scrape the bottom of the pan, let it come to the boil, and pour it into your soup. At this time, only lightly salt in order to flavor the soup and the chicken.
4. Allow your soup to cook for a minimum of 2 hours, de-fatting the top of the soup with a ladel, and then until your chicken is fork tender, at this time use your tongs and pull apart the chicken meat into servable pieces
5. At Service Time:
6. Place in bowls 3-4 Tablespoons of Spanish Rice, soup and then top with a good portion of tortilla strips, your fanned avocado, a well rounded tablespoon of salsa, a good pinch of cheese and another pinch of cilantro. ENJOY!!!

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Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/chef-willies-chicken-tortilla-soup-1233109 (may not work)