Turkey Tortilla Soup

I adapted this from a couple different recipes and what I have on hand. Tortilla soup is an outstanding way to use up leftover turkey - especially that weird meat from the bottom of the bird that is never quite cooked enough. Its nice to have such different, bright flavors with t-day leftovers.

Ingredients
1/2 Bunch Cilantro
3+ Garlic cloves
1/2 onion, chopped
2-4 Chipolte Peppers in Adobo sauce*
1 1/2 quarts chicken stock - you could easily make the stock with the turkey carcass, but I didn't bother.
1 Large can tomatoes
1 tbl cumin (best if freshly ground)

Turkey (or chicken) pulled from carcass and coarsely chopped. It doesn't matter how much you have, really, just enough for how ever many people are eating
1 bell pepper (I think this would be awesome with roasted pablano peppers).


Corn tortillas
Oil for frying
Cheese, avocado, cilantro and lime for topping and garnish
Cooked Rice

The To-Do Part
Puree first seven ingredients in large stock pot with immersion blender. Bring to a boil and simmer for one hour. If you have some large bones, you can add those to the simmer.

Meanwhile, cook remaining half onion in some oil until tender. Add Turkey and bell pepper and some garlic. Saute for a few minutes until turkey is warmed through or finished cooking.

Cut 20 or so tortillas into strips. Fry in a large frying pan in 1/2 inch hot oil in small batches. You can use chips, but freshly fried tortillas are a very special and yummy treat. Drain twice on paper towels or brown paper bags (I find it works quite well, after the initial draining, to put strips inside a brown bag with some salt for a second draining.)

Assembly
Ladle hot soup over brown rice and turkey/chicken. Top with avocado, a little grated cheese or (even better) crumbled queso fresca, cilantro and lime. Put tortilla strips on top or on the side.

YUM!

Notes: The chipolte peppers give an unroasted tortilla soup a roasted flavor and add heat. These are available st Shnuks now, or, of course Jays or the mexican grocery stores. Buy a tiny can (Herdez is one brand) and freeze what is leftover. Tonight I used 2 chilis with some of the extra sauce and it was fairly mild. I wish I'd used 4. I also added some of our leftover gravy and additional water. This thickened the soup and added even more flavor.

This is my favorite winter soup, and I actually like it better with turkey than chicken.