Chipotle chicken chowder

I had come across a few recipes that called for chipotle peppers in adobe sauce, and was intrigued as to what they tasted like. So when I came across a can I had to pick it up. (This soup was mostly selected based on that one ingredient.) As I discovered, they are super hot. And despite the deceptively small can, I now have quite a few chipotles left. Must find more recipes... :-)

I followed the ingredient list fairly closely (although I'm omitting the whipping cream), but I've changed the order around a bit. And since this soup would rely on a nice, flavourful broth, I decided to poach the chicken separately. Not something that I would normally do, but I should try it more often.

Chipotle Chicken Chowder
adapted from this recipe from The Kitchen Sink

1 lb chicken (I used boneless skinless breast)
onion, carrot, celery, parsley, peppercorns, bay leaves, etc

Cut the chicken into several pieces, and place it in a pot along with the other ingredients -- whatever looks good to you. Cover with water, ensuring that you're using at least 8 cups of liquid. (I used 9 cups, and reserved one cup for the next dish.) Poach the chicken until it is done, and leave it in the broth to cool. Remove the chicken, and strain and reserve the cooking liquid -- this will be the broth for the soup.

olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 chipotle chiles (canned in adobo sauce), minced
a bit of the adobo sauce (from above)
3/4 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp thyme
3/4 tsp basil
1/2 tsp oregano
2 large potatoes, diced
8 c chicken broth (I used the poaching liquid)
cooked chicken, shredded
handful cilantro, chopped
juice of 1/2 lemon (ran out of lime :-)

Saute onion, carrot and celery in some olive oil until they begin to soften, adding the garlic to the mixture after a few minutes. Add the chipotle chile, adobo sauce, cumin, and the herbs and saute for another minute. Pour in the reserved poaching broth along with the diced potatoes, and season with French grey sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Let the mixture simmer away until the potatoes are cooked.

Using an immersion blender, blend the soup a bit to thicken the broth (the soup should still be quite chunky). Shred the poached chicken and add that to the soup. Bring the soup back to a simmer and cook for a bit longer. Add the cilantro and some freshly squeezed lime juice, and this soup is ready to serve.

This soup was spicy, tasty, and quite thick -- even without the whipping cream, I felt it was still worthy of the "chowder" title. It's the kind of soup that would be great if you were feeling a bit under the weather. Guess I'll tuck this away in the freezer and pray for a debilitating chest cold ;-)