Sopa de Tortilla

Rafa is breaking ground in several ways.  He's the first male to come over and cook and he's also the first to make something that is commonly eaten here in Honduras, sopa de tortilla.


We discussed ingredients over the phone and then I had to go to the store.  I would've tried to convince him to pick up the things I was missing, but he was at home with 2 kids, which trumped me and the baby (and gives him even more Modern Man points).  I sweet talked my grandmother-in-law into watching the baby in exchange for a loaf of bread and some milk.  Left the baby at her house, ran for the car, couldn't find my wallet, ran back to her house, found it in the diaper bag, ran back to the car, drove real fast to the store, piled everything into a cart, drove it home, unloaded, walked back to Nana's where she had Nico on the bed listening to Guantanamera, grabbed the baby, scurried back home, and started laying things out for the soup.

When Rafa and his wife came over we started chopping and boiling.  It was hot.  I mean really hot.  The soup took about an hour to make with 2 people working together.  This seems a little labor intensive to me, so I think when I make it myself I'll make a lot and freeze the broth.  Then when it's thawed I'll only have to prepare all the condiments. We ate soup, and then the baby went to bed and we drank wine and beer and watched the intros to old cartoons on YouTube.  We sang along to He-Man, ThunderCats, and Jem.  Sometimes in English, sometimes in Spanish.  Then they showed me a bizzaro Heidi cartoon that was apparently quite popular in Honduras. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXW31ZyorVA  There's a yodelly intro song and Heidi's a suspiciously Japanese-looking brunette.  Trippy.

Sopa de Tortilla

1 onion                                                    12-15 tortillas, cut into strips

5 plum tomatoes (or a can)                       oil

3 green peppers                                       mantequilla (sour cream for USA)

2 celery stalks                                          queso seco (Monterey Jack for USA)

2 garlic cloves                                         3 avocados

2 boneless chicken breasts                      cilantro

5 stock cubes

1/2 sm. can of tomato paste

achiote (optional)

dried chiles pasillos

salt and pepper to taste

** Boil all the veggies with the chicken breasts in a stockpot until the chicken is cooked through.

** Take the chicken out and shred it.  Set aside.

** Seperate the veggies from the broth and liquify them with about 1 c. of broth.  Set aside the veggie puree.

fried tortilla strips

** Into the broth add the stock cubes, tomato paste, dried chile and spices.  Add in some of the veggie puree to thicken the soup.  Simmer 20 min.

** Meanwhile, fry the tortilla strips in shallow oil.  Drain on paper towels.

** Chop the cilantro and avocado.  Grate the cheese.  Put each condiment into its own individual bowl so that each person can put their own toppings.



all the add-ins

  Kitchen Crusaders

If I were in a superhero crew

       We would be the Kitchen Crusaders     

We would chop and hack and slice and dice

and flatten our enemies like tortillas

And maybe I'd be Japanese

like Heidi