A soupçon that soups on

When its cold, I always look towards comfort foods, whether its a steaming bowl of tomato soup or some haphazardly put together fried rice. I guess it reminds me of home, which reminds me of warmth, and in turn warms me up just a little? Okay, not really.

Last week I took advantage of our Thanksgiving dinner amongst friends. Where most people were packing up stuffing and potatoes, I jumped up and laid claim on the chicken carcass. In my defense, I am Asian and we do make the most out of every animal and I knew that the lovely bird would make a wonderful stock! Case in point, my friend and I went to Tang Frères and the Asian grocery store chain sells raw chicken carcasses just for making stock. See! I'm not all that nutters.

Anyways, I safely transported my clucky carcass home on the metro wondering what sort of explanation I could give if I was stopped by some authorities. After a few hours of simmering with some additional goodies thrown in, the chicken made a lovely tortilla soup.

And of course no tortilla soup would be complete without sides of chips, quesadillas, and guacamole!

I'm a bit far from home at the moment, and even farther from Orange County where I first had tortilla soup at Avila's El Ranchito restaurant. They have the most amazing tortilla soup that will cheer anyone up, get rid of a cold, and warm a true foodie's soul. Though my soup isn't nearly as amazing, its still better than nothing!