Hello, and welcome to the very first post on A Fork in Hand.  Much thought (probably too much, really) went into selecting my inaugural recipe.  I’m a bit of an over analyzer, so it should come as no surprise that it took me close to 2 months to decide that this was the one.  I mean, it’s my first blog post.  There were so many things to consider!  It had to be something delicious, obviously.  But it also had to be simple enough not to scare people off, yet elaborate enough that you wouldn’t find 20 examples of nearly the same recipe with a simple google search  And most importantly, it had to epitomize, as much as any one recipe can, exactly the kind of food this blog is about.

I believe this tortilla soup recipe is all of those things.  It’s been in the works for quite awhile.  A few years, I think.  I’m pretty much in love with this particular version.  It’s spicy and complex from a mix of fresh and dried chiles, bright and herbal from a short simmer with cilantro stems, and a little tangy from a squeeze of lime to finish it all off.  This is a soup I eat to warm up body and soul on gloomy winter days, to clear out my head when I feel the sniffles coming on, and most often to satisfy my craving for the Mexi-Cali food that I miss so much.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. (more…)