Soups On

I love a good hearty bowl of soup. And I don't mind sharing the recipe. The only problem is that when you are used to making it in huge amounts-it is hard to break the recipe down to small amounts.
There are so many soups I could give you recipes for that can be made with a cream base. I really could give cooking school lessons on soup making after the 7 years I spent making gallons of soup almost everyday.
At the time I thought I would die if I had to make one more gallon of Crab Brie soup. But it really was to die for. You can take the same cream base and add roasted garlic and shrimp.
Ooo la la!
But since so many people cannot get seafood---- I'll post the recipe for the soup I made the other week for church dinner.
If you would like some of the other seafood soups recipes just let me know.

Everyone loves this soup and there are many different varieties of the recipe going around-this is not the low calorie one.

Southwest Tortilla Soup

1- large onion chopped
1-bell pepper chopped
4-ribs of celery chopped
1T-chopped garlic
1 gallon of chicken broth or water and chicken bullion
2- cans chopped tomatoes with liquid
1-can of white corn
1-can of mild enchilada sauce
1t-cumin
1t-chili powder
1/2 t-liquid smoke-opptional
1- cup grated cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste
Blond Roux to tighten(this is simply equal amounts of melted butter and flour mixed and added to soup when it is hot but not boiling)
5-big chicken breast cooked and diced -you can use ground turkey or beef if you like
Flour tortillas fried-cut in thin strips and fry till crisp-top soup before eating
Sour cream and grated cheddar to top soup before eating

In advance cook chicken and set aside. I do not use the chicken broth in the soup unless it has been strained. I don't like the white residue floating in the broth. To broth add veggies, garlic, tomatoes, corn, enchilada sauce. Let this cook until veggies are tender but not falling apart. They add substance to the soup-- so I like to cut them in a big chop so you can tell they are in the soup. Add the rest of the seasoning and then tighten with roux. If you like thin broth soups you don't have to tighten the soup.
Once the soup is as tight as you like-- add the chicken. I don't like to add it before because it tends to shred. Make sure if you use the roux to let
Be careful when you fry the flour tortillas because they will brown very quickly.
Once you have let them drain on a paper towel and cool- you can store them in a ziploc bag. They can be done a day ahead.
Once soup is finished let the people top the soup with cheese, sour cream and fried strips.
Enjoy!