Santa Fe Tortilla Soup

Approximate Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 6

Ingredients

Vegetable or corn oil, for drizzling, plus 2 tbsp-2 turns of the pot in a slow stream
3 ears corn on the cob or 2 ears fresh-frozen cobs, defrosted
1 red bell pepper, split and seeded
1 lb. chicken breasts tenders
1 tsp poultry seasoning, 1/3 palm full
1 tsp cumin, 1/3 palm full
salt and pepper
1 small to medium zucchini, small dice
1 medium yellow skinned onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 to 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
1 28 oz can stewed tomatoes
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
3 c chicken stock
4 c blue corn tortilla chips, broken up into large pieces
1 c shredded cheddar or pepper Jack cheese
1/2 c sour cream
Optional Garnishes:
1/4 red raw onion, chopped
2 to 3 tbsp chopped cilantro or parsley leaves
1 ripe avocado, diced and dressed with the juice of 1/2 lemon

Directions

Heat a grill pan to high and a soup pot to medium-high. Drizzle oil on corn and place on grill pan. Add red pepper to grill with corn. Char vegetables 10 minutes, total, turning occasionally. Remove to cool, 5 minutes. Remove charred skin from the pepper.

While vegetables cook, dice chicken. Add 2 tablespoons oil to hot soup pot. Add chicken to pot. Season with poultry seasoning, cumin, salt and pepper. Lightly brown the chicken. Add zucchini, onions, garlic and chipotle peppers. Cook vegetables with chicken 5 to 7 minutes to soften. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce and stock. Bring soup to a bubble, reduce heat to medium low.

Scrape corn off cob and add to soup. Chop grilled red pepper and stir into soup. Add chips to soup in handfuls and fold in. Serve soup immediately with scatter of shredded cheese and a dollop of sour cream. Top with any or all of the suggested garnishes.

* I actually changed this soup quite a bit, that is the nice thing about soup, you can adapt it to what you have in your cupboards. I had some leftover rottisserie chicken and corn on the cob that I used and I didn't have a red pepper or zucchini, so I added a can of black beans and some extra corn instead. I was very pleased with how it turned out and it was delicious with sour cream, cilantro, and avocado all on top as the garnish. I surprisingly had the chipotle peppers in my fridge from making the pressure cooker chili reccently.

Raspberry Tartlets

Approximate Time: 5 hours (with 4 hours refrigeration time)
Servings: 24 tartlets

Ingredients
2/3 C butter
5 egg yolks (about 1/3 cup)
1-3/4 C all-purpose flour
1 T baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 C granulated sugar
1 T finely shredded orange peel
1 C Lemon Curd or Orange Curd (recipe follows) or purchased lemon or lime curd
2 C Raspberries
Powdered sugar for dusting

Directions
Allow butter and egg yolks to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks and granulated sugar with an electric mixer on high speed until light and pale, about 3 minutes. Add softened butter and orange peel. Beat on medium speed until well combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in flour mixture just until combined. Divide Dough in half. Wrap dough in plastic wrap; chill for at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours or until firm enough to handle.
Lightly grease twenty-four 1 3/4 in. muffin tin; set aside.
On a lightly floured surface, roll half the dough at a time until 1/4 in. thick. Using a 2 1/2 in. round cookie cutter, cut dough into 12 rounds rerolling as needed. Press a round into the bottom and up the sides of each prepared muffin cup. Repeat rolling and cutting with remaining half of dough.
Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 8-9 minutes or until lightly browned (dough will puff). Remove from oven. Immediately make an indentation so as to form a tart shell (use the rounded bottom of a measuring teaspoon). Cool slightly in pan. Carefully transfer tart shells to a wire rack and let cool. To serve, spoon a scant 1 tablespoon of Lemon Curd into each cooled tart shell. Arrange raspberries on top and dust tartlets with powdered sugar.

Lemon Curd

Ingredients
5 egg yolks
1 C sugar
4 lemons, zested and juiced
1 stick butter, cut into pats and chilled

Directions
Add enough water to a medium saucepan to come about 1 inch up the side. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, combine egg yolks and sugar in a medium size metal bowl and whisk until smooth, about 1 minute. measure citrus juice and if needed, add enough cold water to reach 1/2 cup. Add juice and zest to egg mixture and whisk smooth. Once water reaches a simmer, reduce heat to low and place bowl on top of saucepan. (Bowl should be large enough to fit on top of saucepan without touching the water.) Whisk until thickened, approximately 8 minutes, or until mixture is light yellow and coats the back of a spoon. Remove promptly from hear and stir in butter a piece at a time, allowing each addition to melt before adding the next. Remove to a clean container and cover by laying a layer of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the curd. Refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

*I went to a Relief Society cooking group last night where the theme was a Tea Party. These are the prettiest little dessert. They would be perfect for a baby shower or bridal shower. I was very impressed with how well these turned out and how great they looked!

Grilled Sweet Onions

Approximate Time: 1 hour
Servings: 4

Ingredients
4 large onions
4 tsp beef bouillon granules
4 T butter
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp pepper
4 tsp white wine or beef broth, optional

Directions
With a sharp knife, carefully remove a 1-in. core from the center of each onion. Cut each onion into four edges to within 1/2 in. of root end. Place each onion on a double thickness of heavy-duty foil (about 12 in. square). Place bouillon in the centers of onions; top with butter, thyme, salt and pepper. Drizzle with wine or broth if desired. Fold foil around onions and seal tightly. Prepare grill for indirect heat. Grill onions, covered, over indirect medium heat for 35-40 minutes or until tender. Open foil carefully to allow steam to escape.

*We made these yesterday for Mother's Day and they were SO good. They sound a bit interesting but they are WAY good! Family members who don't like onions even really liked these.

Flank Steak

Ingredients
1 Flank steak
1/2 C canola Oil
1/2 C Soy Sauce
1/4 C lemon juice
2 garlic cloves crushed
2-4 T dry minced onion

Directions
Mix all ingredients (except steak) together in a gallon size ziploc bag. Add steak and marinade over night. Cook on grill until desired doneness.

*This is the BEST flank steak recipe ever!!!! We got this recipe from my sister and her husband. For anyone who came to my baby's blessing, this is the meat that we had at that. My husband made it yesterday for Mother's Day and we were all reminded how INSANELY good this is....YUM!