Tomatillo Chicken Soup

I went to school in San Diego at SDSU and for part of my first semester,  I lived in the dorm called "Zura Hall".  Most of us at "Zura" ate on meal plans that our parents purchased.  These plans provided unlimited access to "the commons" during the week which was an all-you-can-eat cafeteria with decent food like burgers, dogs, cold and hot cereal, eggs, salads, and assorted hot meals.  But it didn't quite matter where or what we ate, only that we ATE!  I mean really, I was living in San Diego with kindred spirits, unsupervised, and with limited responsibilities.  What more could I have asked for?  When I wanted something different, I crossed the street and ate at Blimpies or Jack-In-The-Box.

Now you may be asking why I was only at the dorm for part of the first semester.   The reasons are complicated but let's just say it was due to an involuntarily separation that involved me, my roommate, a towel shoved under the door preventing certain smells from drifting into the hallway,  and a particularly obnoxious resident assistant.  Moving off campus was just another rite of passage for us.  We settled a few miles away in a two-bedroom apartment in La Mesa for the remainder of the first semester and all of the second semester.  The good thing about "being asked to leave the dorm" was that all our friends from the dorm now had a place to come visit without any resident assistant hinderance.  The bad thing was that we were forced to start cooking for ourselves.  Neither the commons nor the grocery store were nearby.  Fortunately, my roommate had a car and we were able to do our own shopping when he wasn't out galavanting with his girlfriend.  Yet even with this down side, there I was, living in San Diego with kindred spirits, unsupervised with limited responsibilities.  Feed me anything, I'm good.

Don't let me misrepresent.  We weren't morally starved for good food.  We just didn't care.  We did dine five time that first year at nice restaurants.  Both sets of our parents came to visit and always took us out for nice dinners.   Also, I won a free dinner at a restaurant once for winning a talent show on an open mic night.  But truth be told, I stacked the deck by bringing most of my kindred spirits with me to clap.

The decision to move to the beach in our second year at SDSU was an easy one.  I mean seriously.  Beach of Inland?  No brainer, eh?  So we moved to Mission Beach.  That's when food started playing a bigger role for me.  We grilled burgers and butter fish on hibachi BBQs, cooked spaghetti and chili in crock pots, roasted chickens, and dress up tuna fish sandwiches.  And man, could we dress them up.   My roommate taught me how to add hard boiled eggs, scallions, and whatever else was in our refrigerator to a can of tuna.  More importantly, I learned about street Mexican food back then.

I learned that there were two types of Mexican food for college students in San Diego.  The first was in Mexico - the Tijuana (TJ) street vendor tacos.  We spent many weekends drinking cheap beer in Tijuana at the Long Bar.  By the end of the night, we found ourselves walking back to the US border.  This was always an important walk since it allowed us to sober up a bit and gave us a change to scarf on tacos sold on carts in the streets of TJ.   For $1.25, you could get three tacos.  They weren't big but they were OUTRAGEOUSLY good.  Ok, we were drunk but they were still great.  Three small tacos were never enough but we usually spent our dinero's on beer at the Long Bar keeping just $1.25 tucked away for street tacos.  That was the extent of weekend budgeting!

The other type of Mexican food in San Diego for us money challenged college students was fast food.  But not the Taco Bell or Super Taqueria you find on today's streets.  We had Roberto's and Umberto's and a host of other places with first names.  They were one-offs, not chains that sold amazing tacos and burritos.  I was into the rolled tacos (taquitos).   Yummy shredded beef rolled inside a corn tortilla about the diameter of a corona cigar.  They were deep fried, smothered in guacamole and topped with shredded Mexican cheese.  Three to an order.  They were a bit more than $1.25 but well worth it.  Oh man, I can taste 'em now.

In my years going to school and living in San Diego, I moved from Mission Beach to Pacific Beach to Point Loma to Ocean Beach and back to South Mission Beach tasting Mexican food every where I went.  One day I realized I had to grow up (another involuntary experience) and get a real job so I moved up to the Bay Area and lost that relationship with first-name Mexican joints.   And so I started cooking tacos and burritos myself.

Over the years, I've learned to cook many Mexican dishes.  I am particularly proud of my Tomatillo soup.  My family raves about it and I hope you will too.

Here's what you'll need:

• 2-3 Chicken Breasts
• 1 LB Tomatillos
• 1 Onion
• 3 Garlic cloves
• 2 Jalapeno Peppers
• 2 TBS Olive Oil
• 3 Cups Chicken broth
• Salt and Pepper
• Chopped Cilantro
• OPTIONAL:  Cayenne pepper
• OPTIONAL: 2 Limes

There are four basic steps to this step that involve preparing the tomatillos, preparing the chicken breast, preparing the veggies, and finally putting it all together.

Prep and Broil Tomatillos

• Set an oven rack about 7 inches from the heat and pre-heat on "Broil" setting
• Peel off the husks of the tomatillos and rinse well with cold water.  I use large tomatillos to minimize the number I have to peel.  Below is what tomatillos look like with skins and without skins all cleaned up.

• Cut the tomatillos in half and place them on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil and sprayed with PAM

• Place them under the broiler to char the skins.  It should take 7-9 minutes.  When they look like this, take them out.  They can sit on the aluminum foil until you need them.

Prep and Saute Chicken Breast

• Season both chicken breast sides with salt and pepper.

• Heat 2 TBS of olive oil in a sauce pan large enough to hold your chicken breasts. Saute for 5 minutes per side.  The oil needs to be hot in order to brown the sides.

• Remove the chicken to a plate and adjust the fat in the sauce pan if needed in order to saute the veggies.

Prep and Saute Veggies

• Chop the onion and garlic
• Remove jalapeño pepper seeds and veins and chop.  You can leave them in if you like it spicy.

• Add the veggies to the sauce pan with the chicken juices and olive oil.  Sauté for 10 minutes until softened and all the brown bits of the chicken are incorporated into the veggies.
• Add the chicken broth and tomatillos. 

Putting It All Together

• Nestle the chicken breasts in the sauce pan and simmer for 15 minutes until chicken is done but tender.  

• Once the chicken is done, remove the breasts to a plate to let them cool down a bit. 
• Remove the veggies and chicken broth from the heat and let cool for about 10 minutes.
• When the veggies are cool, use a blender to coarsely chop them.  Depending on the size of your blender, this step will probably be done is stages.  Pour each blended mixture into another sauce pan over a medium heat.
• By the time your blending is complete and the liquid is back into a pan, the chicken will be cool enough to touch.  Shred or chop into 1/2 inch cubes and place the pieces back in the pan.

• Taste and adjust with salt and pepper.  If it's not spicy enough, you can add some cayenne pepper.  It if is not tangy enough, you can add lime juice.  Finally, garnish with fresh cilantro, open a beer, and enjoy!!