Just in case you've ever wondered what an ancho chile looks like

Blah, blah, blah. I never write on my blog anymore. Blah, blah, blah. Busy, busy, busy. Blah, blah, blah.

OK, moving on.

Last night my friend Jill asked on Twitter if anyone had a good tortilla soup recipe. I immediately started craving my sister's recipe. So I sent it to Jill, but then I remembered that dated almost exactly a year ago I have a draft blog post with this exact recipe. So I've dusted it off, polished it off, taken some fresh photos to go along with it and voila... here it is.

Last winter my sister's family and my crew rented a cabin in the snow together for a few days of skiing. We each planned a meal and I have to admit I was not too excited when my sister said she was bringing tortilla soup. It's not my favorite. The first night she suggested we have her soup for dinner I offered up my spaghetti and meatballs instead. The second night it was either Kari's tortilla soup or cereal.

I told my sister not to be offended if my son and I didn't eat it, he's not a big fan of tortilla soup either. Well man oh man was I wrong. This soup was different. Bold and complex and not at all watery. And let me tell you, my picky son was the last one to leave the dinner table as he asked me at least three times for more.

When I asked my sister to send me the recipe I was even more surprised to learn it was a Rachel Ray creation. Rachel has never really held my interest for very long and I am never tempted to make any of her recipes. But this one is a winner, with a few tweeks of my own. I don't make my own tortilla chips and my kids are not too keen on corn so I replace the corn with black beans. Also, instead of a red chile I put in a couple of canned chipotle peppers, it adds a nice, smokey flavor.

And I have to admit, the first time I made this I had no idea what an ancho chile was. I searched the produce section of my favorite specialty grocery store to no avail. I finally asked and learned that ancho chiles are dried poblano peppers. Aha! I love the flavor of poblanos.

So enough chit chat... here is my version. Go make it for dinner, you won't regret it.

Ancho Chicken Tortilla Soup

2 large ancho chiles

1 quart chicken stock

2 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 large red onion

1 jalapeno chile, seeded and chopped

2 chipotle peppers, chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 1/2 teaspoon smoked, sweet paprika

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 28 ounce can fire roasted crushed tomatoes

1 tablespoon honey

1 cup black beans, rinsed

1 rotisserie chicken, skinned and shredded

Salt and pepper to taste

1 to 2 cups water

2 limes

2 avocados, halved and diced

Sour cream, for garnish

Cilantro, for garnish

Crushed tortilla chips, for garnish

Shredded, sharp cheddar cheese, for garnish

De-seed and de-stem the ancho chiles, or if you like spicy, just remove the stem.

Place the chiles in the chicken stock in a pot and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the chiles are tender, about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool.

While the anchos cool, heat the vegetable oil in a large soup pot. Add the chopped onions, jalapeno, chipotle peppers and garlic and saute for about 3 minutes until the onions are soft. Add the cumin, smoked paprika and cinnamon and saute for another few minutes. Stir in the tomatoes.

Puree the anchos and stock in a blender and add to the soup pot. Stir in the honey, shredded chicken and black beans. Season with salt and pepper. Thin the soup with 1 or 2 cups of water and simmer over low heat to combine the flavors, about 20 minutes. Use your judgement on the amount of water. I add about one cup, but I like the soup more chile like and thick. If you want a more traditional tortilla soup, add more water.

Zest and juice 1 lime and add to the soup pot. Seed and dice the avocados and dress them with the juice of another lime. Serve the soup with crushed tortilla chips, sour cream, cheese and cilantro.