Danielle Atkins
One of the inspirations behind The Grilled Cheeserie, co-founded by chef Crystal De Luna-Bogan, is a restaurant in Los Angeles called Clementine, where Bogan worked before moving to Nashville.
There, she made two soups from scratch every day, and her chicken tortilla became hotly requested—it’s still on the menu there today, in fact.
“Being Mexican and having lived in Los Angeles, this is such an epitome of Southern California cooking for me,” Bogan says. “There [are] all these textures, and it’s beautiful to look at—but it’s also fundamentally satisfying.”
She makes a base stock out of charred corncobs and chicken, and then layers the soup into bowls garnished with colorful and flavor-packed toppings.
On the side? Not a grilled cheese, like you’d think.
“I always think of eating this soup with a quesadilla on the side—which is essentially a grilled cheese with tomato soup. I feel like it brings me full circle.”
Look for The Grilled Cheeserie’s newest locations, coming to Franklin and East Nashville, this winter.
The Grilled Cheeserie, 2003 Belcourt Ave, 615-203-0351; grilledcheeserie.com
Crystal’s Chicken Tortilla Soup
• Courtesy of chef Crystal De Luna-Bogan
• Makes 4 to 6 portions
FOR THE SOUP
- 2-3 tablespoons vegetable oil (I use avocado oil)
- 1 large onion, medium diced
- 5 cloves garlic, smashed
- 1 tablespoon coriander
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 2 jalapeños, destemmed and deseeded
- 2 Guajillo chiles, toasted and deseeded
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 corn tortillas, toasted over open flame and torn
- 2 cups crushed tomatoes
- 1 quart corn & chicken stock (recipe below)
- 1 whole chicken, cooked in chicken stock and shredded (recipe below)
- 2 ears charred corn (I carefully char corn on an open flame on my stove), cut off cobb
- 2 limes, juiced
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 tablespoon sugar
FOR THE GARNISH
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered
- Queso fresco, crumbled
- 2-3 shaved radishes
- ¼ bunch cilantro leaves
- 7-8 corn tortillas, cut into strips and fried at 350 degrees until golden brown and crispy, season immediately with salt (I always season these with Tajin spice, a Mexican spiced seasoning with dried lime. It’s my favorite!)
- 5-6 lime wedges
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Heat a medium-sized pot over medium-high heat. Add oil, onion, and garlic. Sweat until onions are translucent.
2. Add spices, jalapeño, and guajillo chiles. Cook 5 to 7 minutes, or until spices become fragrant.
3. Add tomato paste, and toast 3 to 5 minutes.
4. Add tortillas, crushed tomatoes, and stock. Simmer, covered, 30 to 45 minutes.
5. Remove from heat, and transfer to a blender (not a food processor). Blend at low speed, and gradually move to high setting, for about 3 to 5 minutes. (Don't start on high, or else you will have hot soup all over your kitchen. I always have a dry towel on the blender top for insurance while blending.)
6. Transfer blended soup back to pot, and add shredded chicken, charred corn, lime juice, salt, pepper, and sugar. Taste for seasoning.
7. Assemble soup with garnishes: cherry tomatoes, queso fresco, radishes, cilantro leaves, and fried tortilla strips. Put lime wedges on the side.
FOR THE CHARRED CORN & CHICKEN STOCK
• Makes 3.5 quarts
- 1 whole chicken, broken down into quarters
- 1 large onion, cut into quarters (I wash the whole onion with skin on and put the onion with skin in my stock for color)
- 2 whole carrots, roughly chopped
- 3-4 stalks celery, roughly chopped
- 1 head garlic, cut in half horizontally
- 1 bay leaf
- 2-3 ears corn, charred on all sides on the stove or open flame
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds, toasted
- 1 tablespoon whole peppercorns
- 2 jalapeños, cut in half lengthwise
- 1-2 Guajillo chiles, toasted
- 1 bunch cilantro stems only, roughly chopped
INSTRUCTIONS
1. In a pot that holds at least a gallon, or 128 ounces, add all ingredients. Cover with cold water. Cook 1 hour, and then remove chicken from pot with tongs.
2. Set aside to cool, and then pull meat off bone to save for soup. Return bones back to pot, and simmer for 1 more hour.
3. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a large metal bowl or another clean pot. Set aside for soup. This stock keeps in a freezer-safe container for at least 2 weeks.