Another Mexican soup - this one's hot and spicy.

It's always the same, so they say, wait ages for something and then two come along in quick succession. Predictable cliches aside, some flavours seem to resonate and you find that you want to taste them again and again. Chili is addictive. Apparently your body produces lots of endorphins to counteract the capsaicin. In other words, your brain fights the pain with pleasure, therefore, a mild euphoria leads to the desire for another hit. Even though my forehead is sweating, my nose beginning to run and my mouth burning, I still want to nibble another small piece from that chipotle chili. I used a can of chilies in adobo sauce easily found in any supermarket in North America. Yes, the sauce is very hot, but the chilies have a fruitiness to them which is very prominent and doesn't get overwhelmed by the heat as so many do.

Having several things in the fridge that needed eating promptly, including half a tin of plum tomatoes and the chilies mentioned above, I found myself drawn to a Mexican style soup inspired by my previous post of the Boxing Day bacon and bean affair. So many times I have stood there, door open, gazing into the abyss full of half full tins, jars and vegetables past their prime. The guilt I feel is always obliterated when inspiration strikes and I feel virtuous and Nigella Lawson like with 'her overflowing soup ladle' in hand. There will be lunch and it will be good.

  
Very spicy....

 ....Better! Don't ever reach for that glass of cold water when you have an inferno in your mouth! Dairy products are the best choice. Milk, cream or yogurt will tame the fire, just don't drink too much milk or you will succumb to another calamity (Read about it here).

The combination of sour, sweet and tangy tomatoes with the fruity chilies gave a nice edge to the soup. The chunky mushrooms provided a nice meaty element but you could add a tin of red kidney beans to create a chili con carne like soup. Cumin and oregano are such common Mexican tastes, earthy and herbal and bacon gives some smoke to amp up the smoked paprika and the spinach and cabbage add freshness. I topped it with lots of sour cream and grated cheese which I let melt into the soup to make it really creamy. This meant we could finish the soup without streaming eyes and red puffed cheeks. I did get wicked indigestion a few hours later though.

 

Recipe: Chili and tomato Mexican inspired soup

1 onion, chopped finely

1 clove garlic, chopped finely

4 rashers back bacon, chopped

6 mushrooms, quartered

1/4 cup red cabbage, shredded finely

1 large handful spinach

1/2 tbsp oil

1/2 tsp butter

1/2 tin whole plum tomatoes

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tbsp dried oregano

3 tsp sauce from a tin of chipotle chilies in adobo sauce or 1 tbsp chili powder or 4 chilies, chopped

1/2 tsp smoked paprika (pimenton)

2 cups of chicken stock or 2 cups of water with either 2 tsp chicken stock concentrate paste or 1 stock cube.

1/2 tsp salt

black pepper

1 tbsp sour cream

1/2 cup grated cheddar or other strong tasting cheese

Melt the butter and oil in a heavy casserole type pan and saute the bacon over medium heat until crispy. 

Add the onion, garlic, mushrooms and red cabbage and stir well. Cover, reduce the heat and let saute gently until the vegetables are soft, (about 20 minutes).

Add the cumin and dried oregano and stir well.

Add the tomatoes, chili sauce, powder or chilies, chicken stock, spinach, pimenton and salt and stir well. Bring to the boil, cover, reduce heat to low and let cook for about 30 minutes.

When ready, ladle into soup bowls, garnish with 1 tbsp sour cream, half the cheese and grind over some black pepper. Add more sour cream if you're hurting or none at all if you have some strange asbestos mouth, like that episode of the Simpsons when Homer drank candle wax.