You know Joanna Gaines? From Waco, Texas, with the Magnolia empire?
A year or so ago, I was very sad when Joanna and Chip Gaines decided to quit their TV show on HGTV. But she had her hands full – I got that – having another pregnancy in the middle of their very hectic lives with rejuvenating their town, creating a restaurant or two and remodeling homes too. But then I got a little rumor somewhere that they would be back eventually. She’s written a cookbook, and now a second one. A few weeks ago she did a “special” as a forerunner of a cooking show she’s decided to do. But oh – on their own network. Ah-HA! That’s what they had in mind, and I’d heard a rumor about that too. This special she did – I had to laugh – the filming of it was so cute – one of the daughters was in charge of the camera due to the sheltering-at-home. And she did a great job, with Joanna sometimes holding the youngest baby on her hip. None of the recipes she demonstrated (I think there were four) are ones I’ll be making, but that’s okay. Chip breezed in a time or two as did the other children.
Joanna writes a blog, if you didn’t know, also part of the Magnolia empire. And this soup popped up some weeks ago. As you know. sometimes the story itself is what makes me decide to prepare something. This one did. When Joanna and Chip were dating, they drove up to Dallas one weekend and ate lunch at a restaurant there. My guess is it might have been Dean Fearing’s, but that’s really a stab in the dark. Somehow, when the restaurant closed Joanna got the recipe – or maybe she just made her own version – and has been making it ever since.
Poblano chiles are a favorite of mine. They have such a unique flavor. There is some unusual compound (almost a minerally tinge) to them. So I was all over this recipe when I saw it. My biggest hurdle was getting poblano chiles, and that got accomplished by the high school students at my church who are doing shopping for us seniors. When I talked with the young woman who was supervising these shopping-kids, I asked, “will they know what a poblano chile is?” She said yes, I’ll make sure. Sure enough, I got exactly what I asked for.
I also needed tortilla chips. A whole package of ready-made chips would have been eaten in total by me, so I nixed that idea. Fresh tortillas were the answer and I’d make my own chips. The smallest package of corn tortillas, however, was 36 of them. Chuckle. It’s been a month since I made this soup, and I still have 30 of them in the package. One day soon those telltale black spots will begin to appear and they’ll get tossed. But at least I had them to make the chips for the garnish of this soup.
This soup is a cinch to make – butter (oh, lots), onion, celery, carrots (which gives the soup a more warm color), garlic and the chiles. Seasonings go in, some broth and heavy cream in abundance. Once it’s simmered a bit, you whiz it up in the blender, or use a stick blender. I wanted a super-smooth texture, so I used the Vita-Mix. Then you add in the cooked chicken, pour into bowls and garnish with radishes, the chips, cilantro – and I added some diced avocado. I used chicken thighs that I cooked up, but she recommended using rotisserie chicken to make it easy.
What’s GOOD: the silky smoothness of the soup part, and the crunch of the garnishes. Altogether delicious, but then, what wouldn’t be good with a whole cube of butter and 2 cups of heavy cream? I think I used 6 T butter.
What’s NOT: nothing, really. This recipe is a keeper.
printer-friendly PDF and MasterCook 15/16 file (click link to open recipe)
* Exported from MasterCook *
Creamy Chicken Poblano Soup from Joanna Gaines
Recipe By: Adapted slightly from Joanna Gaines
Serving Size: 7
8 tablespoons unsalted butter — [I used less]
2 cups onion — diced
4 stalks celery — chopped
3 carrots — chopped
2 cloves garlic — minced
3 medium poblano chiles
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
8 cups low sodium chicken broth — (see note below)
2 cups heavy cream
3 cups cooked chicken — shredded cooked chicken breast (home-roasted or rotisserie chicken)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Tortilla chips and sliced radishes — for garnish
1 whole avocado — diced, for garnish [my addition]
NOTE: Suggestion: Add about 3/4 of the chicken broth and taste the soup for consistency – next time I would use less broth to make a slightly thicker soup.
1. In a large soup pot, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the onion, celery, carrots, garlic, and poblanos and sauté, stirring often, until tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Add the salt, pepper, cumin, and thyme and sauté until caramelized and fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes longer.
2. Add the broth and cream, bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring often, for 15 to 20 minutes to meld the flavors.
3. Use an immersion blender to carefully blend the soup until smooth. (Alternatively, let cool slightly and, working in batches as necessary, process in a stand blender until smooth, filling the blender no more than half full and removing the lid slowly after blending. Pour the soup back into the pot.)
4. Add the chicken and simmer for 15 to 30 minutes to meld the flavors to your liking. Stir in the cilantro.
5. Serve warm, garnished with tortilla strips and sliced radishes and avocado.
6. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Per Serving: 601 Calories; 46g Fat (66.9% calories from fat); 35g Protein; 16g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 180mg Cholesterol; 1104mg Sodium.
Leslie
said on May 1st, 2020:
Thank you for sharing, I love poblanos too! I’m going to try this recipe this weekend. My guess is also that it was Dean Fearing’s Restaurant. If you like, try his tortilla soup from the Mansion on Turtle Creek, it is excellent and definitely not as rich. Love your posts as always!
I think I have the tortilla soup in my recipes somewhere. I’ve heard it is excellent. Thanks, Leslie, for your kind comments. Thanks for being a reader of my blog . . . carolyn t
hddonna
said on May 1st, 2020:
Oh, yum! I love poblanos, too–they’re my favorite chile. I assume you chop them? It doesn’t say in the recipe. But apparently you don’t have to roast and peel them. I have some I put in the freezer whole–they should work in this recipe, I think.
As to the corn tortillas, one of my favorite breakfasts is made by cutting a corn tortilla or two, depending on size, into strips, sauteing in a little oil until beginning to crisp, then topping them with a fried egg and whatever Mexican-ish toppings I have on hand–a little shredded cheese or queso fresco, or even feta if that’s what I have, a dash of hot sauce or some salsa, diced tomato perhaps, and if I’m lucky and had avocado toast the day before, I’ll dice what’s left of the avocado and toss that on. Corn tortillas count as a whole grain, and a breakfast like this can be made with 15g of carbs or so, well within my limit. I guess it’s inspired by huevos rancheros, but simplified for a quick meal for one, and the tortilla strips make it so I can eat it with a fork while reading the paper!
That sounds great, Donna, the breakfast you make. I just don’t keep corn tortillas on hand. The package I had, went bad before I’d used more than 2-3. I read online that corn tortillas don’t freeze well. Yes, the poblanos I did cut into big chunks, removing the stem and seeds. It all gets whizzed up in the blender anyway, so the size makes “no nevermind,” as the saying goes. Hope you enjoy it, Donna. . . carolyn t