Recipe for "tortilla-soup"

NAME

     TORTILLA-SOUP - A spicy soup with cheese, tomatoes, and corn
     This is a recipe from Salmagundi, a San Francisco soup  res-
     taurant chain.

INGREDIENTS (Serves 12)

     1.5 kg    chicken pieces
     4 l       water
     5 ml      celery seed
     5 ml      black peppercorns
     2         garlic cloves, peeled
     500 g     canned whole peeled tomatoes (do not drain-reserve
               the liquid)
     1         onion, cut into 1-cm pieces.
     1         green pepper, cut into 1-cm pieces.
     3         sprigs fresh cilantro
     2.5 ml    ground cumin
     2.5 ml    cayenne or chili powder
     1 ml      ground white pepper
     1         clove garlic, minced
     300 g     frozen corn
     4         green onions, coarsely chopped
               salt
     180 g     cooked rice (cook 75 g of raw  rice  to  get  that
               much cooked rice)
     10 ml     minced parsley
     100 g     tortilla chips
     200 g     grated cheddar cheese

PROCEDURE

          (1)  Combine chicken and water in stockpot.  Add celery
               seed,  peppercorns and garlic tied in cheesecloth.
               Cover, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for
               about 45 minutes.
          (2)  Remove chicken from broth and  let  cool.   Strain
               broth and return to pot.
          (3)  Add  tomatoes,  onion,  green  pepper,   cilantro,
               cumin,  cayenne,  white  pepper and garlic.  Cover
               and simmer 30 minutes.
          (4)  Add corn and  green  onion.   Simmer  10  minutes.
               While  this  is cooking, skin and bone the chicken
               pieces and cut the meat into bite-size pieces.
          (5)  Add salt to taste.   Add  the  chicken,  rice  and
               parsley to the broth, and heat through.
          (6)  Garnish each bowl with a few crisp tortilla  chips
               (homemade  are  best,  or those made in a homemade
               style) and some grated cheddar cheese.

NOTES

     I usually make this with leftover chicken.  You don't  actu-
     ally need a whole chicken worth-even a small amount will do.
     In this case, I use a mixture of  chicken  broth  and  water
     (about 2/3 chicken broth) for the liquid.

RATING

     Difficulty: easy.  Time: 2  hours,  most  of  it  simmering.
     Precision: approximate measurement OK.

CONTRIBUTOR

     Vicki O'Day
     Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, Palo Alto CA
     hplabs!oday