Chicken Tortilla Soup

First preheat the oven to 350º. Make a spice rub with the spices and season the chicken with the rub. Pop in the oven for 30 minutes and let it roast. Once its done, shred the chicken and set aside to add to the soup at the end.

As the chicken roasts, add a tablespoon of olive oil to a bottom heavy stick pot and sauté the chopped onion, pasilla pepper, bell pepper and garlic. Season the vegetables with a 2 teaspoons of salt. Cook on low-medium heat for 10 minutes, until onions become translucent. Stir often to prevent the garlic from burning. Burnt garlic can become very bitter very quickly!

Next add the cumin, oregano, paprika, coriander, chili powder and garlic salt. Taste to see if it needs more salt. It should be well seasoned but not salty! 

After 3 minutes of stirring with the spices, add 1/2 cup of beer. Pretty much any beer except a sour or a stout will work. A lager is probably your best bet!

Once it cooks out (2-3 minutes), add in the can of Rotel, the can of Ortega chilies, the chicken broth and the Las Palmas red sauce.

Bring it up to a boil and add in the tortilla pieces. Once you do that, lower the heat and cover. Let the soup simmer for 15-20 minutes.

After the pieces of tortilla have begun to virtually melt into the soup, use a hand immersion blender or a regular blender to puree together until smooth, about 3 minutes. This makes it creamy and rich! And of course gives it that “tortilla soup” taste.

Add in the fresh or frozen corn and the shredded chicken. Let that cook for another 2-3 minutes until the corn is cooked and serve with your favorite goodies on top!