Cowboy Chicken Soup
Bachelor Chow
My hands are too cold to type much, so in lieu of an actual essay, I thought I’d post a throwback to the recipes I used to post on the old blog.
By the by: I have two different types of recipes — actual recipes, and “bachelor chow”. The difference is that bachelor chow uses a lot of pre-made stuff so it’s quick and easy, as well as tasty.
You’re going to need:
2 pounds of chicken thighs
1 medium yellow onion
1 packet of Ranch seasoning1
1 packet of taco seasoning
1 can of Rotel
1 can of pinto beans in mild chili sauce
1 can of dark red kidney beans
1 can of black beans
2 cans of whole kernel corn
Chicken stock
Take your thighs, cut them into chunks, and bung into a skillet with your chopped-up onion, and a little oil.
While your chicken is getting a nice little sear, and snuggling up to the onion, open the Rotel, the chili beans, the kidney beans, and the black beans — don’t drain them — and huck ‘em into a pot.
Open the corn — I like the white/yellow mix if I can get it — drain them, and into the pot. Cover with chicken stock and crank the heat up.
When the chicken and onion is nice and brown, into the pot with it, and add more chicken stock until you get the consistency you’re looking for.
Once it hits a simmer, thoroughly incorporate the ranch dressing mix and the taco seasoning.2
Turn the heat down to a burble, and let it perfume the house for a couple of hours, stirring occasionally. Add more chicken stock — or water — if the soup get thicker than you’d like.
When you serve, top with a generous hand-full of whatever cheese floats your boat.
Voila! I used to call this “LawDog’s Chicken Soup”, but Rita calls it Cowboy Chicken Soup, and I like that name better.
If I’m cooking for a group, I use Mild Rotel. If it’s just me and Rita, I use the Fire Roasted Rotel, but adjust to your preferred level of spicy.
Enjoy!
Ian
Get the ‘Dressing and Recipe’ mix.
This is important — stir well! The seasonings will try to clump up, and nobody wants to bite into a clump of taco seasoning.
I've made this from your recipe and I like it.
Since we're putting recipes out there, here's my recipe for taco seasoning:
8T chili powder
6T freshly toasted and ground cumin
2 1/2 T kosher salt
2 1/2 T ground garlic
2T smoked paprika
1T crushed red pepper
1T onion powder
1T oregano
1T freshly ground black pepper
Mix well and put in an airtight container until ready to use...lasts about a month and a half.
Far less salty, far more flavorful and far cheaper that the crap they sell in the store. If ya want it hotter, just bump up the crushed red pepper and chili powder...or add some powdered ghost pepper or suchlike..