The holidays are upon us, and instead of getting stressed out as per usual, I’ve decided to focus my energy elsewhere: soup-making! You might not know this about me, but I LOVE to cook, a trait I’m sure I share with the majority of our CSA home-chef cooking all-stars. The taste of a fresh home-cooked meal is unrivaled, unparalleled, and supreme, it satiates the soul. Another little known Brenton-fact is that I have a voracious wintertime fervor for cooking soups and chilis. I love that the aromatic fragrances permeate and warm the whole house, plus it’s a serious comfort food to boot. Of all the many different types of cuisine that exist (I have quite an extensive cookbook collection, over 300 books!), my specialty resides in the Mexican and Cajun realm of cooking. Making a big ole vat of gumbo is something that I relish, and I find the process extremely meditative. Plus, living in Central Texas enables us, luckily, to grow most all of the veggies that are integral & popular in Cajun and Mexican recipes. YAHOO!

Chicken Tortilla Soup.

On my recent jaunt to Monterrey, the extensive, varied, and brilliantly vibrant produce at the farmers markets really inspired me to experiment and utilize more Mexican produce in my cooking. As a small token of my appreciation for our assiduous and incredible crews, I decided to make a huge vat of tortilla soup. Our Garfield crew grubbed down earlier in the week, and our Hergotz crew will be fully fed next week. The holidays are a perfect time to take inventory on the many aspects of life to be thankful for - and I must say, I am one lucky guy.

Farmers market spread in Monterrey.

Farmers market spread in Monterrey.

Farmers market spread in Monterrey.

We already have a gargantuan stainless steel pot and heavy duty burner for making carnitas at the farm, so thankfully the soup-making venture was equipped! The pots came with the biggest utensils I have ever set my eyes on… I swear there’s a spoon that is bordering on 4 feet long. And, don’t get me started on the ladle, it holds SO MUCH liquid… but, I digress. I’ve made tortilla soup before, so I had a pretty good idea of where to start, but I wanted to do a little research first to make it as authentic as possible. The first recipe I read was written by Rick Bayles, one of my favorite cookbook authors. He studied Latin American anthropology + linguistics, and hosted a cooking show for a long time focused on Mexican food. His recipe for Sopa Azteca talks about the history of the dish, explaining that it originated in the Mexico City area before becoming popular across the American Southwest in the 1970’s.

Giant utensils!

Rick’s recipe was great, but I wanted something a little more in-depth that used more authentic ingredients. My philosophy in cooking is to use raw and fresh ingredients as much as possible. I don’t want to buy a powdered chile blend, I want to buy whole chiles so I can grind and mix them myself. I follow the same philosophy in farming and in building. For example, all the soil we use in our greenhouse is mixed by hand to ensure we’re getting the exact composition we want. Is it easier to buy pre-made ingredients? Of course. But to me, getting it right is worth the extra effort.

With that philosophy in mind, I found this recipe which suggests roasting fresh whole tomatoes, corn cobs, heads of garlic, onions, and dried chiles to deepen the broth’s flavor. The author of this recipe explains that one of the of the defining ingredients in tortilla soup is the type of chile used when making the broth. Some recipes call for ancho, chipotle, or even Hatch chiles, but the most traditional chile to use is dried pasilla, which is almost black in color and has a dark, complex flavor.

Ingredients.

With all my ingredients at hand, I spent the rest of Sunday night working on the soup. I put the recipes away and freestyled it, which is my favorite way to cook. I browned 20 pounds of chicken legs with onions and garlic in a huge pot. I let that simmer for awhile before adding carrots, celery, oranges, jalapenos, whole black peppercorns, salt, thyme, and some wonderful smelling guajillo powder given to me by a farmer friend in Italy this past September. I started the stock at sunset and let it simmer until midnight. I put the stock pot in an ice bath to cool it down before finally going to bed. The next morning I skimmed off the fat and stored the stock until Wednesday.

On the day of the big lunch, I enlisted our irrigation manager, Temo, to help me cook the rest of the soup. We re-heated and strained the stock, then picked all the chicken meat off the leg bones. Then, we roasted a huge pot of tomatoes, onions, garlic, poblano peppers and fresh corn until charred, puréed it, then added it to the simmering stock. We reserved some of the roasted vegetable mixture to make fresh salsa. We also lightly roasted the pasilla chiles, rehydrated them in hot water, then puréed them and added them to the stock as well. Then we added more charred corn, chopped carrots, shredded chicken breast and fresh epazote. We called the whole crew over to the lunch barn and started serving everyone. The steam coming off the huge soup pot was surely a welcome sight on such a cold, blustery day. We put tons of fresh garnishes on all the tables to top off the soup: radishes, avocado, queso asadero, crema, jalapenos, epazote, scallions, cilantro, limes and freshly made tortilla chips. The soup was a huge success, and we’re going to do a repeat lunch for our packing crew at Hergotz next week. Now’s the perfect time to gather all your friends, family, and coworkers together to try out a huge pot of this soup for yourself. See the ingredients I used below if you’re inspired by the photos in this story.

Straining the stock.

Fresh toppings.



Enjoying the final product.

Enjoying the final product.

For the stock:

• 20 pounds of chicken legs
• 2 bunches of carrots
• Celery
• 6-8 Oranges
• Jalapeños
• Whole black peppercorns
• Salt
• Thyme
• Roasted guajillo powder
• Toasted and freshly ground cumin
• Dried Mexican oregano

For the Soup:

• 13 large dried pasilla chiles
• 20 lbs of tomatoes fire-roasted
• Peanut oil – I like this oil because it’s what I grew up with in Alabama. The town I was born in, Dothan, is the peanut capital of the world.
• 10 or so large white onions, sliced 1/4-inch thick
• Approx. 8 garlic heads
• A few bunches of carrots
• 1 bunch of epazote
• 3 chickens
• 12 ears of corn, shucked, kernels removed from cobs, milk scraped from empty cobs
• 6 large poblano peppers
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 6 cans no-salt black beans, drained and rinsed

For the toppings:

• 100 tortillas sliced into thin strips and fried in peanut oil
• 1 quart Mexican crema
• Epazote
• 3 pounds shredded Mexican melting cheese asadero
• 15 avocados, pitted, sliced and flesh scooped from the skin
• Chopped scallions
• Sliced fresh jalapenons
• Sliced red radishes
• fresh cilantro bunches
• 15 limes, cut into 6 wedges

Feeds 100 hungry farmers!

Thanks again to everyone who came out to the Rolling Roadshow’s screening of The Grinch! Who could have imagined that nestling in with loved ones to enjoy our grumpy green friend’s escapades on the big screen would ever take place in our greenhouses? It was wonderful to say the least, and the Rolling Roadshow team is seriously a dream. We are grateful that Music, Tech, and Food and the Central Texas Food Bank ventured out and spread the good word on their mission and how they combat food insecurity in our fair city (Thank you! Thank you!). Face-painting, okra ornament decorating, food truck delights, an extensive and very unique photo-booth, a very impressive wrapping contest, and cozy hay-rides (endless thanks to Brandon, our greenhouse manager, and Charlotte, our assistant farm manager, for being such rockstar tour-guides!) were all a veritable success! The grinch even came! He’s one weird dude! He definitely spooked some folks, but hey, he is the star of the movie, so… we let him stick around. Our diligent volunteers made everything heaps easier and helped immensely with everything running smoothly. Thanks to Ada for all her hard work on the event, we couldn’t do it without her. I love when we can get our farm community together, especially this time of year. We are super grateful for y’all’s support. ‘Til next time!



 

Photobooth shenanigans.

Okra ornaments. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Snuggled up to enjoy the movie.

Hayride!

Want to work on the farm with a show-stopping crew of your new best friends? Take a peek at some of our current openings!

Still looking for gifts for loved ones? Never fear, the JBG Gift Guide is here!

Hats! Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Market bucks. Photo by Scott David Gordon.