Tortilla Soup from Dinner on the Diner

Tortilla Soup!

So the Chattanooga Choo Choo is pretty famous here. 

Years ago, my mom received a copy of a cookbook called Dinner on the Diner from the Chattanooga Choo Choo. It was filled with recipes from around Chattanooga, and many of our family favorites have come from this book.

This is an easy one. It is just Tortilla Soup, but I added chicken!

I bought a rotisserie chicken. We get dinner on the table quicker this way!

Ingredients:

5 slices of bacon, 1 large onion (chopped), 1 clove garlic (minced), 2 (10.5 oz) chicken broth, 1 (16 oz) can tomatoes, 1 (10 oz) can Rotel, 1. 5 cups water, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp chili powder, 1 tsp sugar, 2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper

Directions:

Cook bacon in pot. Once crisp, remove bacon from pot for topping later! Saute onion in bacon fat. Add garlic and cook 30 seconds, until fragrant. Pour off grease. Add remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Just before serving, I added the chicken.

Put tortilla chips in your bowl, top with soup and add your favorite toppings (i.e. cheese, sour cream, bacon, black olives...whatever!)

This body warming soup is great for Fall and Winter!!!

La Bonne Vie Y'all!

Tater Tots in a Casserole...What Are You Saying?!?!!!

Well, so all there is to say is: Yum!

Yes- go ahead and cheer- Tater Tots for dinner! Hooray!

Oh- but I've gotten ahead of myself.

Ingredients:

4 Tbsp unsalted butter

2 carrots, cut 1/2"thick rounds

2 stalks of celery, cut 1/4" half-moons

1 onion chopped (I actually substituted a large shallot- I had guests who don't like onions very much.)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup whole milk (I used 2%)

4 cups shredded cooked chicken (*1 rotisserie chicken yields approx. 4 cups.)

3 cups frozen tater tots, thawed

1 tsp fresh thyme leaves (I substituted 1/2 tsp of dried thyme)

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees F.

Melt butter in a large heavy pot over medium-high until hot. Add carrots, celery and onion and season with 

1 tsp of salt and 3/4 tsp pepper.

Cook stirring occasionally, until veggies are golden, about 12 minutes.

Stir in flour, then whisk broth & milk, bring to a boil whisking.

Boil until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes.
Stir in chicken.

Transfer to a 2-quart baking dish.

Pulse the tots in a food processor with thyme. 

Pulse until medium ground. I left some tots a little more lumpy.

Scatter over the top of the casserole.

Bake until the filling is bubbling and topping is golden and
crisp, about 20 to 25 minutes.
Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

We covered ours with some fresh ground pepper. It yields 4 large servings.

I found this on the Food Network App and it was marked Easy- and it truly is! Especially if you cut cooking time with the rotisserie chicken.

This is the ultimate comfort food and in this girl's food diary...# 1 Casserole...I mean, it has tater tots!!!

La Bonne Vie Y'all!