Yucatan Lime & Chicken Soup

I got this recipe from Food & Wine magazine. I got a free subscription to F&W somehow, still not sure how. Actually I got two subscriptions because I get two copies every month. The green part of me says I should contact them and let them know but they'll probably cancel both of them so I'm holding off. I really like the magazine, there are lots good recipes with plenty of soups in the bargain. We are not wine drinkers but I'm thinking of getting more familiar with the vino.

As you can probably tell from previous postings I favor chicken based soups and this is another example of that. I'd rate this soup as a moderate in terms of difficulty because of the roasting of the vegetables you need to do simultaneously with the cooking of the chicken. Other than that it's pretty easy.

Ingredients
4 medium tomatoes
1 large white onion, unpeeled, plus 1/2 cup minced for garnish
21 garlic cloves, peeled, about 2 heads (see note)
3 whole chicken breasts on the bone (about 1.25 pounds each)
3 quarts chicken broth or water
2 limes, zest finely grated and limes halved, plus more for garnish wedges
20 allspice berries (see note)
1 tbsp dried oregano (see note)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 large minced scallions
2 banana or jalapeno chiles, seeded and minced (see note)

NOTE: The peeling of the 21 cloves of garlic is probably the most time consuming part to the recipe and is tedious. Consider using already prepped and minced garlic for the 15 cloves called for in step 2 below, I use garlic from Spice World which is usually in the produce department's refrigerated section. For the allspice the best approach for buying it is to find a store that sells spices in bulk so you don't buy a whole jar for just 20 berries. Here in the Tucson area our Sprouts store has a bulk spice section that is really great for these types of critical but infrequently used spices. For the oregano try to find a Mexican oregano because there's a bit of a stronger bite to this variety. You can find the Mexican variety on the aisle with Hispanic foods. For the chiles be sure you are careful when seeding them. I use rubber gloves because the burning of my fingers that lasts for what seems like hours is a pain. Even with gloves you have to be very conscious of not touching your nose or eyes until you've had a chance to thoroughly wash.

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. You'll be roasting the onion, the four tomatoes and six of the cloves of garlic. Use a large pan like a metal casserole or a metal pizza pan if you have one. Put the onion in for 30 minutes, with 20 minutes left add the tomatoes and then with 10 minutes left put in the garlic. Remove the veggies and cool them slightly. Cut the onion in half and remove the outer layer of skin if it has blackened. Press the tomatoes through a coarse strainer or puree them in a blender or use an immersion blender.
2. In a large pot cover the chicken with the stock. Add the lime zest and lime halves, allspice, oregano, the remaining 15 garlic cloves, one teaspoon each of salt and pepper and bring to a boil over high heat. When it is at a boil, add the halved onions and reduce the heat to low, simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 30 minutes.
3. Transfer the chicken to a platter and let cool. Gently simmer the broth for 10 minutes, then strain so the lime halves, onions and allspice is removed and return the pot to the stove.
4. Remove the skin from the chicken and then remove the meat from the bones. Tear the meat into thick shreds.
5. Heat two tablespoons of the oil in the pot. Add the scallions and roasted garlic cloves. Mash the garlic with a fork so they get close to a paste. Cook over moderately high heat for about four minutes. Add the strained tomatoes and simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the strained broth and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.
6. Add the chicken to the broth and cook until heated through.
7. After serving you can sprinkle tortilla chips and oregano along with the lime wedges and diced chiles.

When I made this recipe the first time I used a whole chicken and boiled the chicken in water with four carrots, 4 celery stalks, oregano and salt & pepper. So I made my own stock rather then use packaged stock. In recipes that call for chicken and chicken stock this is what I usually do especially if I'm doubling the recipe for "Soup at Work Wednesday". When the chicken is cooked, about 40 minutes, I let it cool and then remove the skin from the bird along with the meat and leave it in thick shreds. The broth gets strained and you're good to go. In this recipe I also added the roasted onions, lime zest, limes and allspice to the cooking of the chicken.

One caution to using celery in the cooking of the broth and that is that a little celery goes a long way, one to two stalks is the max to use. If there's too much celery you can really taste it in the soup and it leaves a bitter aftertaste to each spoonful.

Enjoy this one. I loved the lime and roasted onion flavors!