Ranchero Soup Recipes

Steps:

• Brush the onion, celery, zucchini and peppers with oil. Moisten a paper towel with cooking oil; using long-handled tons, lightly coat the grill rack. Grill vegetables, uncovered, over medium heat or broil 4 in. from the heat for 7-8 minutes on each side or until tender (pepper skins will char). , Immediately place peppers in a bowl; cover and let stand for 15-20 minutes. Peel off and discard charred skin. Coarsely chop grilled vegetables., In a large saucepan, combine the tomatoes, broth and carrots. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Stir in grilled vegetables, rice and lemon-pepper; heat through.

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, stir together the stock, tomatoes, 1 onion, garlic, chili powder and cumin; bring to a boil.
• Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes or until the flavours have blended.
• Meanwhile, in a large bowl, beat together the egg, remaining onion, oregano and salt; mix in the beef, breaking up large pieces with a spoon.
• Stir the rice into the meat mixture.
• With moistened hands, shape into 1-inch balls.
• Add the meatballs and beans to the saucepan; bring to a boil.
• Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
• Add the pepper and zucchini; cover and simmer for 15 minutes more or until the meatballs are cooked through.
• Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

Steps:

• On a gas range or under a broiler, roast the green, red and poblano peppers until well charred. Let cool. Stem and seed the charred peppers. Coarsely chop and set aside.
• In a spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle, finely grind the whole guajillo and pasilla chiles and set aside.
• In a large saucepan, warm the oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, covered, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the guajillo and pasilla chiles, cumin, chili powder, oregano, thyme, black pepper, salt and garlic. Stir and cook until the spices become fragrant and are fully coated in oil, 3 to 5 minutes.
• Add the tomatoes, green chiles and sugar. Stir and continue to cook until the sauce starts to simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to cook until the vegetables soften and the flavors come together, 30 to 40 minutes. Taste and add additional salt and pepper as needed.

Steps:

• For the ranchero sauce: Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F and put the tomatoes, garlic cloves and onion on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast the vegetables, turning occasionally, until blistered and charred in spots, about 35 minutes. When cool enough to handle, remove the papery skins from the garlic.
• Meanwhile, bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add the ancho chiles, cover, and remove from the heat. Let sit for 10 minutes, then drain and pat dry.
• Put the vegetables and any juices from the baking sheet into a blender. Add the ancho chiles, 1/2 teaspoon each chopped chipotle and adobo sauce and 1/2 teaspoon salt and blend until fairly smooth. Taste; if you want the sauce spicier, stir in the remaining chopped chipotle and adobo sauce.
• Heat the oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add the sauce (it will sizzle) and 1/3 cup water and cook, stirring, until thickened but pourable, about 5 minutes. Taste and season with salt as necessary. Cover and keep warm over low heat. If the sauce thickens too much, add 1 tablespoon of water at a time to thin it out.
• For the refried beans: Put the beans in a medium bowl with about half of their reserved liquid and mash with a potato masher until smooth. Heat the vegetable oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering, then add the mashed beans and a big pinch of salt and mash again until smooth. Cook, stirring and scraping with a rubber spatula, until heated through. If the beans seem dry, add some more of the reserved liquid until they are creamy. Taste, season with salt if necessary and cover and keep warm over low heat.
• For serving: Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F and line a baking sheet with paper towels. Heat 2 teaspoons vegetable oil in a medium skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add 1 tortilla and cook until the underside blisters, about 15 seconds. Flip the tortilla with tongs and continue to cook until the underside blisters, about 15 seconds. Remove from the pan to the lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining 7 tortillas, adding more oil if necessary. Spread about 2 tablespoons of the refried beans on each tortilla and keep warm in the oven.
• Using the same skillet the tortillas were fried in, heat 1 tablespoon oil until shimmering, about 1 minute. Crack 4 eggs into the skillet and cook until the edges are crispy and whites are almost set. Cover the skillet with a big pot lid and cook until the whites are completely set, 1 more minute. Remove the tortillas from the oven, top four with an egg, then return to the oven and repeat with the 4 remaining eggs.
• Top the remaining tortillas with the remaining eggs. Sprinkle each with a pinch of salt, some ranchero sauce, Cotija cheese, cilantro and onion. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• Heat oil in heavy large Dutch oven over high heat. Season beef with salt and pepper. Add to Dutch oven; sauté until brown, about 5 minutes. Add onion, carrots, and garlic; sauté 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, broth chilies, olives and oregano. Bring to simmer. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until beef is tender, about 1 hour. Uncover; simmer until juices thicken, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in cilantro.

Steps:

• In a blender, puree tomatoes with juice, jalapeno, onion, and garlic.
• In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add puree; cook, stirring frequently, until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Steps:

• Heat a medium skillet over medium heat. Add oil to the hot skillet and place whole tomatoes and jalapenos in the pan. Cook, turning every 2 minutes, until all sides are scalded. Remove from the heat.
• Transfer tomatoes and jalapenos carefully to a blender and process until pureed.
• Cook and stir onion in the same skillet over medium heat until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add tomato-jalapeno puree and pour in water; bring to a simmer. Simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and serve warm.

Steps:

• Place bacon in a large skillet and cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until slightly browned, about 5 minutes. Cook and stir onion in the bacon grease until onion is transparent, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove bacon from skillet and drain on a paper towel-lined plate; crumble.
• Stir chopped tomatoes, tomato sauce, cilantro, jalapeno pepper, salt, pepper, and crumbled bacon into onion; bring to a simmer and cook until flavors blend, about 15 minutes.

Steps:

• Combine all ingredients to taste.
• Note - adjust milk amounts accordingly to either keeping it in condensed form to use in recipes requiring it or for preparing as a soup, I use 1/2 cup whole milk for prepared soup.