Recipe for "soup-aztec"

NAME

     SOUP-AZTEC - Aztec soup: a simple cheese, tomato,  and  beef
     soup
     I got this recipe from my mother, who got it from  a  friend
     in  Tucson,  Arizona.   The  recipe  is extremely simple and
     extremely quick. I like to  serve  it  with  Mexican  chef's
     salad (SALAD-MEXICAN).

INGREDIENTS (Serves 4-6)

     500 ml    consomme
     500 ml    cream of tomato  soup  (use  the  recipe  of  your
               choice, or open a can)
     100 g     green chilies, diced (or  use  more  or  less,  to
               taste)
     100 g     corn tortilla chips, crumbled
     200 g     Monterey Jack cheese, cut into 1-cm  (or  smaller)
               cubes.

PROCEDURE

          (1)  Mix soups and bring to a boil.
          (2)  Fill each soup bowl about 1/3 full  with  crumbled
               tortilla  chips.  Place a layer of cheese cubes on
               top of the chips. Put  one  or  two  spoonfuls  of
               diced, drained chilies on top of the cheese.
          (3)  When ready to serve, ladle boiling soup on top  of
               the  mixture in the soup bowls. Do not stir. Serve
               immediately.

NOTES

     The boiling soup melts the cheese, but  it  also  begins  to
     make  the chips soggy as soon as you pour it on. If you chop
     the cheese into finer cubes, it will melt more quickly,  but
     if you chop it too fine, or if you grate it, then the cheese
     will form a layer on top of the soup instead of remaining as
     disctinct chunks.

RATING

     Difficulty: easy.  Time: 5 minutes preparation.   Precision:
     no need to measure.

CONTRIBUTOR

     Loretta Guarino Reid
     DEC Western Software Laboratory, Palo Alto, California, USA
     guarino@decwrl.dec.com   -or- decwrl!guarino