Tortilla Soup

This is my favorite soup!!But the problem with most of my recipe's is I don't measure most of the ingredients. I don't know if that just comes from making them over and over or being married to a chef who just whips things up and and show no record of what he puts into his dishes. With that being said I made this soup last night and tried to measure everything.

Ingredients
 2 Chicken Breasts Shredded
10-15 Corn Tortillas
3-4 Jalapenos
1 Onion
8-10 Peeled Garlic Cloves
15 Roma Tomatos
1/2 Chopped Bunch of Cilantro
2 Tsp Cumin
4 Cups of Chicken Broth
Vegtable Oil
Olive Oil
Shredded Cheese
*Queso Fresco -- optional

I boil two chicken breast- then shred. I like to add seasonings while I boil chicken, but I usually always add Knorr's Caldo de Pollo it makes the chicken so tender -(you can find it in the Mexican isles at the store). I also do not add the chicken to the soup- I keep it separate like a garnish. I like my soup on the little thinker side so I usually use 15 corn tortillas. I slice them into strips. In the pot I am going to cook the soup in I fry the tortillas strips with a little vegetable oil (they kind of crisp and crumble and don't forget to keep scrapping the bottom of the pot while they cook for all that extra flavor). I set that off to the side and on a large cookie sheets I cut up the onion and separate into pieces, and the cloves of garlic, half the jalapenos (take the seeds an membrane out if you do not want it hot) and the tomatoes. I also don't like tomato seeds in my soup so I cut all the way around and toss the middle, top and bottom of the tomatoes. If that doesn't make any sense just cut the tops and bottom off and that is fine. Pour Olive oil, salt and pepper all over the items and mix. Bake in oven at 375 for 20-30 minutes. Once, the ingredients start charring and softening it is time to add them to the pot with tortillas. Now, use a Immersion blender.

This is the cute hot pink one my mom bought me. If you don't have one I have used a regular blender too. It is just not as easy. With the Immersion Blender slowly add half your chicken broth and as much cilantro you like. I usually use half a bunch. Then let the blender do the work of chopping everything. Keep adding the chicken broth to your the liking of thickness to your soup. Now you have the consistency you like add 2 TSP of Cumin, and salt to taste. Bring to a boil and that's it.  Once, the soup is ready I add the chicken to each bowl add the soup and garnish with shredded cheese, chopped up tortillas chips for a crunch and sprinkle with a crumbled Mexican cheese called Queso Fresco. It is very mild and soft cheese.

* if the soup is too hot for you or your kids all you need to do is add a little bit of ketchup to the bowl or pot. It brings the heat down!! 
* also if you have leftovers the soup gets thicker once it sits overnight in the fridge. I usually just pour any leftover broth on top and mix it up the next day.