I’d be lying through my teeth if I didn’t readily admit that She Who Must Be Obeyed and I are thrilled to be back in a part of the country with weather that feels more like late winter than early summer.
The few weeks we’ve spent starting to carve out our niche here in the Northwest have been, at least from what folks have been telling us, have been about ten degrees cooler than normal and it’s been raining or snowing every day. Amen.
We’ve stumbled across a little fruit and vegetable stand in town with astoundingly nice produce typically at half or less of area supermarket prices. A couple of days ago they had a couple of bushels of nice Anaheim chiles roll through; I grabbed a big bag with visions of this soup in mind.
There are two green chile soups on the favorites list at our place; one is a smooth, creamy green chile puree. The other is this monster of a soup and the absolute top on our list – Roasted Green Chile Chicken Soup.
It’s rich and stuffed full of roasted green chiles (add more if you fancy, we almost always do) and tasty chicken; if I’m feeling particularly creative, restless or need to impress company, we’ll partially grill the chicken before throwing in the pot. A rotisserie chicken from your trusty grocer works very well too.
1/2 lb. butter
1 large white onion, medium dice
1 celery stalk, medium dice
1 carrot, medium dice
2 (at least) tbsp. garlic, chopped fine
2 cups white flour
8 cups milk
3 cups cooked chicken, boned and skinned, medium dice
3 cups green chile peppers (roasted, peeled, seeded, chopped medium)
1 cup heavy cream
2 heaping tbsp. ground cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
4 cups water
Sauté time. Meat your favorite large stock pot over medium heat; melt the butter. Add the onions, celery, garlic and carrot; sauté for 10 minutes or so until the onions are translucent.
Make a roux. Add the flour, stirring constantly and cook for 3 to 4 minutes until a smooth, lightly colored roux forms.
Add the milk. Keep stirring, and add the milk, mixing well and stirring for 5 minutes or so until the mixture thickens.
Add the rest of the goods. Now add the chicken, green chiles, cream, cumin, salt, pepper and water. Mix well, reduce the heat and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, if you can manage to wait that long. (Don’t boil this one or the soup will break…)
Absolute heaven with a salad and a handful of spicy cornbread (next week’s recipe).
Enjoy.
