Roasted Poblano and Chicken Chowder

Another chicken soup to warm up the soul and soothe a cold. This soup has some heat and depending on the poblanos, can be spicy. If you don’t care for the heat, you could always use regular peppers. There will be extra stock and maybe some extra chicken. You can freeze stock and use to cook rice or for a sauce. I like to put it in ziplock bags labeled in my freezer. It always comes in handy. The easiest way to roast the peppers is to place them on a foil lined baking sheet at about 400 degrees for 30 minutes or so. The skins will blister and brown and then you remove them from the oven and cover them with the foil allowing them to “sweat”. As soon as they are cool enough to handle, skins come off easily and you can discard seeds and chop. If you don’t want to make your own, you can always purchase the chili’s from the Mexican aisle of your local market.

Yield 6-8 servings

Ingredients:

for stock:

• 1 3-4 lb whole chicken
• 1 carrot
• 1 stalk celery
• 1 onion, quartered
• 3 smashed garlic cloves
• 2 tablespoons peppercorns
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 4 thyme sprigs
• 2 dried bay leaves
• 10-12 cups cold water

for soup:

• 2 large poblanos roasted skins and seeds discarded, diced
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 large onion, diced
• 3 ribs celery, diced
• 3 medium carrots, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• medium Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, cut into 1-inch chunks
• 4 cups frozen yellow corn
• 5 -6 cups prepared chicken stock
• 4 cups shredded chicken from stock
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 tablespoons of flour
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• fresh squeezed lime juice , to taste
• fresh cilantro, sliced avocado, tasted tortilla strips for serving

Directions:

for stock:

Place all ingredients for stock in a large pot. Fill with 10-12 cups of cold water or until the water reaches about 3/4 of the way full. Bring the water to a boil, reduce heat to low and cover simmered for about 1 hour. Drain stock (it will be a beautiful golden color) through a colander reserving cooking liquid and chicken and discard. Once chicken is cool enough to handle, remove chicken from bones and shred into bite size pieces, setting aside to use later. You can strain the stock one more time through a sieve to remove any other remaining particles.

for soup:

Melt butter in a 5 to 6 quart heavy-bottomed pot on medium high heat. Once the butter is melted, add the onions, carrots, the celery and garlic and stir to coat with the butter. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, lowering the heat to medium, until the vegetables are softened and are beginning to brown. Season with salt and pepper. Next add corn and diced potatoes, stir to coat and add flour followed by 5 cups of reserved stock. Add cumin and oregano and increase heat bringing to a simmer. Lower heat to maintain a simmer and cook for 8-10 minutes until the potatoes are just cooked through. Add the chopped roasted poblanos and shredded chicken to the pot along with cream and fresh squeezed lime juice. Garnish with avocado, fresh cilantro and tortilla strips and enjoy!