Mexican restaurants — or at least restaurants with some Mexican dishes on the menu — are all over Big Sky Country. Much like Americanized versions of Italian classics such as pizza and pasta have found their way onto our dinner tables, so too have tacos, burritos, nachos and enchiladas come to dominate many American diets.
Over time, these dishes have morphed into meals that are a big departure from the original versions. This happens for a variety of reasons, including convenience, lack of access to particular ingredients, and a lack of cultural and historical understanding of the cuisine in question.
I’m not going to lie: Many of these modified Mexican classics hit the spot for me. But several years ago I set out to learn more about the original versions, understand the stories of their origins, and secure the indigenous ingredients used to make the dishes in their earliest forms. Sometime soon, I hope to head south to sample the real deals.
Dried whole chiles are a near-universal ingredient in many dishes from all parts of Mexico. As a complete novice, I tried to learn the different varieties, their flavor profiles, and their typical applications. We can even find some of these dried chiles in our local grocery stores, usually in the aisle labeled “Hispanic” or “Ethnic.” Most common in Montana stores are ancho chiles, California chiles, New Mexico chiles, guajillo chiles, chipotle chiles and chiles de arbol.
One central Mexican staple dish that uses chiles is tortilla soup, also known as sopa Azteca. The most common chile I’ve seen in dozens of tortilla soup recipes is pasilla chile, sometimes labeled chile negro. They’re earthy, with a slight fruitiness reminiscent of raisins, and mild to medium heat levels. You can occasionally find them in Montana stores, or you can buy them online. When I make tortilla soup, I regularly substitute guajillo chiles, which bring more heat and are more common in Montana stores.
Not too long ago I developed my own recipe for tortilla soup, which takes elements I like about the original, combines them with some Americanized modifications, and adds a bit of Montana. It’s not a quick, one-pot version, but it is achievable if you are willing to spend a little time. Go the extra mile with this meal — you won’t regret it.
I give the chicken a sear with spices at the start of the process and let it finish poaching in the broth before I shred it. This adds flavor to both the chicken and the broth. Since this is tortilla soup, I blend a couple of tortillas with the broiled aromatics, much like tortillas are sometimes added in the making of a Mexican mole sauce, reinforcing the tortilla taste. This process makes the soup a bit less brothy than other versions, and I’m 100% OK with that. Finally, I like to use Montana-grown black beluga lentils instead of black beans to bring a local flair to the dish. They are small, cook much more quickly than dry black beans, and are even more nutritious. I think you’ll have fun working with an ingredient that is grown in abundance on the Hi-Line and in eastern Montana.
There are ways to further boost the flavor that I don’t detail here, just to keep this column to a reasonable length. Cooking your own chicken broth from scratch will get you bonus flavor points. Making your own corn tortillas is another way to upgrade this dish to restaurant-caliber.
This soup freezes amazingly well. Double or triple this recipe and have some comforting, healthy meals ready to go in your freezer.
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CHICKEN TORTILLA SOUP RECIPE
Serves: 4-6 people
1 large or 2 small chicken breasts (14-16 oz. total)
32 oz. chicken broth (4 cups)
2 guajillo or pasilla chiles
3-4 small tomatoes (14-16 oz. total)
1 medium white onion (10-12 oz.)
1 large jalapeno
2 garlic cloves still in their peels
1/3 cup dry Montana black beluga lentils
1 cup frozen corn
1 lime
1 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp Mexican oregano
7-8 corn tortillas
kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper
vegetable oil
Optional toppings: avocado, cilantro, lime wedges, sour cream or Mexican crema, thinly sliced jalapeno, freshly diced tomato
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut your corn tortillas into 1/4-inch strips. Line a baking tray with foil and place the tortilla strips on it. Drizzle about 1 tbsp vegetable oil over the strips, along with a good amount of kosher salt, and toss to incorporate. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven and toss again with tongs. Bake for another 10 minutes, or until the strips are golden brown and crispy. Take the tortilla strips off the tray and set aside. You will use the tray again later.
Now start cooking your 1/3 cup of black lentils in a small pot with 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, and then let simmer for 25-30 minutes until soft. Drain off the water and set the lentils aside.
Meanwhile, preheat a large pot or Dutch oven on medium heat. Place your chiles in the pot to toast for 1-2 minutes per side. Once toasted, discard the stems and the seeds and set the chiles aside.
Season your chicken with a good amount of kosher salt, pepper, 1/2 tsp cumin, and 1/2 tsp garlic powder. Add a few teaspoons of vegetable oil to the pot, still on medium heat, and sear the chicken until brown on both sides (about 5-7 minutes per side). It doesn’t need to cook all the way through since it will be poached in the broth later. Once browned, remove the chicken from the pot and set aside.
Set your oven to broil with the oven rack placed in the center. Peel your white onion and cut into 1/2-inch slices. Place the tomatoes, onions, garlic cloves (still in their peels) and jalapeno on your foil-lined tray. Drizzle them with a bit of vegetable oil, salt, and pepper.
Place the tray in the oven and broil for 5 minutes. You do not want to walk away from the broiler during this process. Setting the timer is key to prevent burning. After 5 minutes, remove the tray, turn the garlic cloves over, and place back in the oven. Set the timer for 3 minutes. After 3 minutes, remove the garlic from the tray and set aside. Continue broiling and checking the rest of the ingredients in 3-minute increments. Allow the tomatoes, onions and jalapeno to broil until you start to see dark edges, then turn them over. Allow dark edges to develop on the other side, checking at 3-minute increments. Remove individual items as they finish cooking.
Discard your garlic peels and remove the seeds and stem from the broiled jalapeno. In a blender, add half of the broiled tomatoes, half of the broiled onions, all of the peeled garlic, the jalapeno, the chiles, roughly 20 crispy tortilla strips, 1/2 tsp cumin, and a cup of cold water. Blend until very smooth. Sieve the blender contents through a fine mesh strainer into the large pot or Dutch oven you used earlier. Add 1 cup of the chicken broth to the blender container and blend for a few seconds to ensure you extract as much of the puree as possible. Pour this broth through the strainer as well and pour the strained puree into the large pot/Dutch oven with the rest of the chicken broth.
Bring the soup to a boil and place your chicken into the pot. Reduce heat to a simmer. Take the remaining 1/2 broiled white onion and chop it into small pieces and add it to the broth. Add the juice of 1/2 lime and 1/2 tsp Mexican oregano. Let simmer for 20-30 minutes on low with the lid slightly offset on the pot.
Remove the chicken and shred it into small pieces using two forks. Take the other half of your broiled tomatoes and roughly chop them. Place the chopped tomato and any juice into the broth. Taste the broth to check for salt, pepper and lime levels. Add the shredded chicken, 1/2 cup frozen corn and the drained black lentils and simmer for 5 minutes. You may also add another cup of chicken broth if you like your soup thinner.
Place a few tortilla strips at the bottom of an individual serving bowl. Ladle broth into the bowl, and then top with more crispy tortilla strips. Serve piping hot with toppings of your choice, such as avocado slices, fresh chopped cilantro, lime wedges, sour cream or Mexican crema, thinly sliced jalapeno and freshly diced tomato.
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