Southwestern Corn Tortilla Soup

Ingredients

• 1 whole fryer chicken
• 12 corn tortillas
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 3 cups High Desert Herbal Tea – Chimayo Sunset (just the particular brand I used, but any fruit tea will do)
• 8 ounces jicama, diced
• 1/2 green bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
• 10 pearl onions, quartered
• 1 teaspoon round, toasted cumin
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme leaves
• 2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
• Salt to taste

1. In a large pot, place enough water to cover the whole chicken. Remove chicken and bring water to a boil.
2. Put chicken back in the pot and blanch for 8 minutes.
3. Remove chicken, shock (cool rapidly, usually using ice water), and refrigerate. Keep water at a low simmer.
4. In a separate pot, bring tea and chicken broth to a boil.
5. Tear tortillas by hand and drop into boiling liquid.
6. Reduce head to a simmer, and stir often. Make sure nothing sticks. Add some of the liquid used to blanch the chicken if it gets too thick.
7. Disassemble chicken, and dice the meat into 1 inch cubes
8. When tortilla pieces have fully broken down, add vegetables and chicken. Bring back to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
9. Continue to simmer until chicken is “fall apart” tender.
10. Serve hot.

(Note: Remember to keep adding liquid if it gets too thick… Oh and about the garnish in the photo: I had some Dungeness crab meat that was kind of lying around from an event which we’ll cover in a different post, and I couldn’t resist using it. It was an excellent compliment.)

Tea Smoked Oysters with Garlic Green Tea Emulsified Vinaigrette

For Vinaigrette

• 1/2 teaspoon pasted garlic
• 2 ounces freshly steeped, strained green tea (ie, not the leaves)
• 1 ounce rice vinegar
• 5 ounces mayonnaise (home made is best, the store stuff will do, but please, no “Miracle Whip”!)

Whisk together all ingredients.

For oysters

• 7 Westcott Bay oysters
• 1-1/2 cups jasmine tea leaves
• 1 cup rice (doesn’t matter what kind)

Method

1. Place shucked oysters on a metal drying rack until a tacky skin forms (called a pellicle).
2. Place jasmine tea and rice in an aluminum pie pan and mix thoroughly.
3. Find the stoutest pan or pot in your kitchen, and place it on you stove over medium-high heat.
4. Place pie pan with tea and rice into heated pan.
5. When the contents of the pie pan start to smoke, place rack with oysters over top, and cover with a lid big enough to enclose everything.
6. Cook oysters over smoking pan until lightly golden and firm.
7. Serve on a bed of greens with Garlic Green Tea vinaigrette.

–Chopper Dave