Liana Krissoff

Tortilla Stew

Preparation info

  • Difficulty

    Easy

Appears in

Slow Cook Modern

Slow Cook Modern

By Liana Krissoff

Published 2017

  • About

WITH avocado-lime topping

ALSO GOOD WITH chilled radish chips OR chili garnishes

This is a fine way to use up any stale corn tortillas you might have in the back of the fridge. Here you’ll stir half of the tortillas into the soup to thicken the broth, and lightly fry the other half to use as a crunchy-salty topping.

Ingredients

  • 2½ pounds (1.2 kg) well-trimmed boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into chunks
  • 1 tablespoon ground cumin
  • 1 tablespoon ancho chile powder
  • 1 tablespoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican
  • Salt
  • 2 cups (480 ml) chicken stock
  • 1 cup (165 g) peeled and chopped tomatoes
  • Vegetable oil
  • 8 corn tortillas, stacked, cut in half, then cut into strips about ¼ inch (6 mm) wide
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Method

Morning

Put the chicken in the slow cooker. In a cup, stir together the cumin, chile powder, oregano, and 1½ teaspoons salt, then sprinkle over the chicken and toss to coat. Pour in the stock and add the tomatoes. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

Morning or Evening

In a large skillet or sauté pan, heat about ⅛ inch (3 mm) of oil over medium heat. When it shimmers, add half of the tortilla strips. Cook, stirring with a slotted spoon, until nicely browned and crisp, 3 to 5 minutes. With the spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain and sprinkle with salt. Set the fried and unfried strips aside.

Evening

Turn the cooker to high, stir the unfried tortilla strips into the stew, cover, and cook until the tortillas are softened and you’re ready to serve. Serve the soup with the fried tortilla strips on the side for topping.

© 2017 All rights reserved. Published by Abrams Books.