Frugal Foodie Friday - Chupe de Pollo con Chipotle (Peruvian Chicken Chowder)

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I first had this soup when we were in Peru and it was love at first bite. Unfortunately, I could find no one willing to share the recipe for this chowder with me, and it was not featured in any of the cookbooks I had purchased while in-country. I did search for a recipe once we were home, but most that I found were in Spanish, required metric conversion and called for ingredients that were not available in most areas of the United States. Translation and conversion could grudgingly be handled, but as there was no way to obtain the missing ingredients, I ended my search and the chowder became a pleasant memory. Several months ago, while searching for something completely unrelated, I found a workable version of the recipe in an old issue of Cooking Light magazine. It was not truly authentic, but it sounded delicious and I was willing to give it a try. It was a serendipitous find, and since that first trial, we've had the chowder several times and I must tell you that it is inching way into my list of favorite soups. It rained and rained and rained today, so I decided to beat back the gray with  lunch  bowls of this bright and sunny chowder. While I was gathering the ingredients for it, it dawned on me that its low cost  would make it  a perfect feature for Frugal Foodie Friday. The recipe is straightforward save for one direction that can be misleading. The ingredient list calls for  a can of  chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. Don't be alarmed. From that can you will need just one pepper and 1 teaspoon of the adobo sauce. The rest is saved for another day. For the record, an immersion blender can  be used to make short work of pureeing the chowder base, and boneless chicken thighs can be used in place of  breast meat. This makes a wonderful fall soup and I really hope you will give it a try. Here is how the chowder is made.

Chupe de Pollo con Chipotle Peruvian Chicken Chowder)...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Cooking Light Magazine

Ingredients:
1 (7-ounce) can chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 cups chopped onion
1 cup chopped carrot
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
6 garlic cloves, crushed
6 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1-1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast
2 medium red potatoes (about 12 ounces), cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 (15.5-ounce) can white or golden hominy, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 cup chopped seeded plum tomato
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 lime wedges

Directions:
1) Remove 1 chile and 1 teaspoon adobo sauce from can; reserve remaining chiles and sauce for another use. Finely chop chile; set chile and sauce aside separately.
2) Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add chopped chile, onion, and next 6 ingredients (through garlic); cook 7 minutes or until onion is tender, stirring frequently. Stir in broth; bring to a boil. Add chicken; cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 30 minutes or until chicken is tender. Remove chicken with a slotted spoon, and cool slightly. Shred chicken with 2 forks; cover and keep warm. Remove pan from heat; let stand 5 minutes.
3) Place one-third of broth mixture in a blender and process until smooth. Pour pureed broth mixture into a large bowl. Repeat procedure in two more batches with remaining broth mixture. Return pureed broth mixture to pan. Stir in potatoes and hominy; bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook, uncovered, 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Stir in chicken and cream; simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in reserved adobo sauce, tomato, cilantro, and salt. Serve with lime wedges. Yield: 8 servings.

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