Cookwithus Week #9- Cinco de Mayo- Tortilla Soup

This week is Cinco de Mayo and there are so many different Mexican food that it is difficult to pick out one for this week's competition @cookwithus. I remember when I was living in Napa Valley, my friends and I would get together at our favorite Mexican restaurant and order tortilla soup. What made this tortilla soup so special was instead of a tomato base, it was a tomatillo soup base. The acidity from the tomatillos added a nice tangy flavor to the soup.

To add my spin to this soup, I decided to char the onions for the vegetable soup base. To char the onion, cut the onion in half and place directly on a open flame until the onion gets dark.

Recipe for Vegetable Stock

serves 2

• 1 large sweet onion, charred
• 1 celery stalk
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 sprig fresh oregano
  Place all the ingredients into the small pot and cover with 2 quarts water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 45 minutes. Strain the stock and discard the vegetables.

Tomatillo Sauce

• 3 tomatillos
• 1 large poblano pepper or 2 smaller ones charred
• 2 cloves garlic
• small bunch cilantro
  Peel the charred skin from the poblano peppers and remove the seeds. Place all the ingredients into a pot except for the cilantro and and add 1 pint of water. Bring to a boil and cook until tender. Transfer to a blender and add the cilantro. Blend until smooth.

To finish the soup, add some chopped vegetables. I add a combination of corn, asparagus, cauliflower and zucchini. Cook until the vegetables are tender. You want a total of 2 cups of diced vegetables. Add in the tomatillo sauce to the soup.

Tortilla Chips

• 2 pieces of corn tortilla
• canola oil

Place the oil into a small pot and cut the corn tortilla into thin strips. Fry until golden brown and sprinkle with some salt.
Ladle some soup into a bowl and garnish with diced avocados, chopped cilantro and fried tortilla strips. Each spoonful of spoon is a play on textures. You get creamy avocado, crunchy tortilla strips and a pop of freshness from the fresh cilantro. You can also add a dollop of sour cream and some shredded cheese. Enjoy!