Chef Willies Chicken Tortilla Soup

Freshness and not rushing this soup is the key to success here. This is a brothy, wonderful flavoured soup that not only fills you up, but is beautiful to the eye. It is best served, for a more striking appearance, in a large 10" wide rimmed soup bowl.
What you will need to cook with:
1 large heavy cast iron pan or heavy bottomed sauté pan on medium heat and a pair of tongs
1 large pot (3 - 5 gallon) on medium high heat and a wooden spoon

ingredients

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

directions

1
Instructions:
2
In your large pot, sauté your vegetables until they become translucent and then add your dried spices and your chopped garlic sauté 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, sauté 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!!!