blue corn tortilla soup with pheasant

Laura loves Tortilla Soup

My bride of nearly 40 years loves Tortilla Soup and I make it for her whenever the mood strikes and her diet will allow it. Jenny Craig makes a Tortilla Soup… but, well, it isn’t the same.

I like to make this soup a little different every time I make it from the spices to the meats. This time I seared and shredded a pound of pheasant breasts. You can buy some at Whole Foods or on-line directly at Pheasantfordinner. I also love a wide variety of vegetables, corn, rice,  fire roasted peppers and my own dried Jalapenos! As for spices, you want it to have a bit of a tang, so I’ll use a blend of curry spices, or just turmeric and chili powder… but it depends.

My favorite Mexican Food Restaurant in Los Angeles is  El Cholo’s  where they serve many wonderful things made of Blue Corn … so I add some Blue Corn Tortillas for fun!

A nice diversion for any reason!

chili relleno recipe stolen from el cholo’s!

This is a great recipe from the el Cholo cookbook! CLICK to visit!

One of the wonderful Southern Cal traditions is to visit the oldest Mexican Food Restaurant of Los Angeles! I am speaking of  El Cholo’s on Western Avenue. It doesn’t matter when I visit, I will always have — as part of the meal — their very delicious Chili Relleno!

Okay, I didn’t actually steal their recipe, in fact, I bought it in one of their two very nice recipe books!

a page from the El Cholo cookbook. The inserted pictures are from my preparation today: top, stuffing the chilis with cheese, and bottom, making the wonderful sauce to cover the meal!

Now, they also offer versions with a little more zip, but as a main meal or a side dish this one is just fine! I made a few alterations to accommodate all of the chili’s I had purchased and used a little salsa… but I stayed fairly true to the source. yum!

Enjoy this relatively guilt free… okay, feel guilty… but it is worth it!

Roger