Chicken and Cheese Soup with Poblano Peppers.
While most of you have been in the deep freeze this week, here in Colorado we’ve been enjoying mild temperatures. Mild enough that flip-flops have appeared, hikes have been taken, windows opened, decks occupied for sun starved bodies to soak up the warm rays and paths packed with dog walkers and bike riders.
Busy with work and play, aside from the soup pictured above, I didn’t cook much this week. One evening I made salmon burgers from the freezer department and micro’d frozen broccoli.
The meal was so horrid that Bob demanded I get the camera and photograph and blog about it. We giggled ourselves out of that idea.
Without much cooking activity, let’s take a look at the week at a glance.
We got a new burger joint in our Highlands Ranch Towne Center, called Crave Real Burger. It’s truly an adventure in burger dining. Coworker Stacie, client Scott and I headed over to give it a try. I order the Drunken Onion (left) which is a burger patty topped with Cabernet caramelized onions, french fried onion rings and melted Swiss and Gruyere cheese. It was heavenly. Scott ordered the Popper (center) which is a burger topped with beer battered cream cheese, jalapeños, lettuce, tomato, onion, chipotle mayo and avocado. Stacie got the Cheesy Jane, your run of the mill cheeseburger. We shared an order of fried pickles with chipotle mayo dipping sauce (right).
We ordered tame compared to what’s available on the menu. How about The Luther which is a burger topped with bacon, lettuce, egg, onion and two Crispy Cream Donuts used for the buns. And then there’s the Fatty Melt which is a cheeseburger topped with bacon and pickle with two grilled cheese sandwiches used as buns.
It all sounds crazy fattening you say??? Just order a side salad instead of fries like I did, it makes it all okay. 😉
Left to right: Hubs, Maralee, Myself, and Greg
Thursday evening found us invited to a party hosted by friends Maralee and Greg and Flights Wine Bar in Morrison. Morrison is just a hop, skip and jump away from Highlands Ranch. A sleepy little town nestled in the foothills west of Denver.
Flights has set up shop in an 1870’s cottage, cozy with leather furniture and fireplaces. They offer over 100 wines on the bottle list and 40 by the glass. We enjoyed a great tasting of four wines and some really clever tapas creations. Good wine, good food and atmosphere, we’ll definitely go back.
Leftovers appeared on the table a few nights from this Chicken and Cheese Soup with Poblano Peppers. I’ve had this recipe forever and it’s one of our favorite soups.
Brothy with chicken stock, cheesy with cheddar, chunky with chicken, savory with chopped tomatoes, kicked with with some chopped poblano peppers, and topped with chopped cilantro and sour cream, this is a soup that will warm anyone’s day.
Chicken and Cheese Soup with Poblano Peppers
Ingredients
- 6 Cups chicken stock
- 151/2 ounces chopped tomatoes canned, undrained
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion chopped
- 3 poblano peppers seeded, veins removed and chopped
- 1 jalapeno pepper seeded, veins removed and chopped
- 2 teapsoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1/2 cup flour
- 2 Cups milk
- 12 ounces sharp cheddar cheese grated
- 1/2 Cup sour cream
- 2 Cups diced chicken meat from rotisserie chicken
- leaves Chopped fresh cilantro to taste
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Hot sauce
- Cilantro tortilla chips and sour cream for topping
Instructions
- In a large Dutch oven, bring the chicken stock to a boil. Add the tomatoes, lower heat and simmer covered.
- In a skillet, heat the butter and oil. Add the onion and saute until tender. About 5 minutes. Add the chile’s and cook until they have softened. Add the cumin and chili powder. Stir and then sprinkle in the flour, blending all with a wooden spoon.
- Gradually add the milk and stir until smooth.
- Ladle 2 cups of the stock mixture into the thickened milk and stir to thin. Pour the entire contents of the skillet into the soup pot and let simmer over very low heat, stirring often. Let cook about 15 minutes.
- Stir in the cheddar cheese and sour cream. Cook about 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the chicken and chopped cilantro. Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle in some hot sauce. Cook on very low heat until everything is toasty and blended.
- Taste and adjust seasonings.
- Garnish with chopped cilantro, crushed tortilla chips and a dollop of sour cream.
Nutrition
Chicken and Cheese Soup with Poblano Peppers…It’s What’s for Dinner.
From the Kitchen of Lea Ann Brown, Cooking On The Ranch
