Crema de Poblano Soup de Doc Lagniappe

Serves 2 meal-size bowls or 4+ soup cups

Based upon my visit to Biscuit King in Houston last month ... here are the
results of experimentation. And this isn't far from the quality of their
phenomenal soup! AND both Biscuit King and THIS recipe beat Campbell's
Crema de Chile Poblano soup hands down (based on flavor, character,
spiciness and mouth feel)!

VERSION 1 (Spiciest)
5 oz can Evaporated Milk (not sweetened) (obviously you could use regular
milk ... I didn't have any and pulled off the pantry shelf)
10.75 oz can Campbell's Cream of Mushroom with Roasted Garlic Soup
3 Large Fresh Poblano peppers


VERSION 2 Ingredients
I added 1 large fresh avocado, raw, bashed up to the soup (or to the
blender if you want) -- suggest 1/2 large or maybe 1 small avocado
instead.


VERSION 3 Ingredients
Consider sour cream or whipping cream


Broil (or BBQ) the Poblanos, turning every 3-5 min til they start to
blacken & blister on all sides. Drop them into ice water & peel. I
remove stems & seeds afterwards. (If you don't wear gloves when handling
the peppers, get the capsaicin off your skin with lemon juice.)

Put peppers into blender with evaporated milk ... and maybe the mushroom
pieces from the soup (if you don't want everyone know you cheated with the
soup base). Blend til a coarse salsa ... leave some texture.

VERSION 2: A large avocado works well and makes the soup a lot milder &
creamier but does change the character a little -- a small avocado or 1/2
a large would suffice. Still excellent!) You can either throw the
avocado into the blender above OR just mash it up with a fork if you want
more texture &/or the differential flavor of the avocado to contrast
inside the soup.

Put into pot with canned soup, thin with a bit of water if needed and warm
slowly -- stirring frequently -- it burns to the bottom easily. I like a
thick soup, but you might want yours more runny.

VERSION 3: IF you don't like it so spicy ... I haven't tried this yet, but
I'm predicting it could be made more mild with some whipping cream
(1/2-2/3 C?) ... or maybe some sour cream (1/2 C?).
OR use the VERSION 1 spicier recipe but serve w/ a big dollop of sour
cream in the center of it (like borscht) for a temperature and flavor
contrast.

This comes out as a really mouth-warming soup ... maybe too much for spicy
food haters, but it's mild for folks who love spicy!
GREAT HOT ... or even COLD the next day! This would be a killer cold rainy
day soup!

VARIATION: Consider serving with a wedge of avocado on the edge of the
cup/bowl?

With chunky avocado in it, this might also be an interesting dip for more
bland vegetables if you simmered it til thick. Broccoli? (Try it before
you commit to a big party with it :-)

Also could be a spicy accent sauce on other dishes? Such as baked chicken
topped with this as a sauce and also with melted cheese? I used to love
Campbell's Crema de Chile Poblano soup over chicken all the time but it's
hard to find that on the shelves, so I figured I needed to find another
source!

I did see some orange/red? flecks in Biscuit King's soup which could have
been blenderized carrot OR some other pepper ... if that gives anyone any
ideas. This soup doesn't really need to be any spicier, but a very small
amount of carrot blended into it might add a sweet complexity that some
would like.

Easy to make ... biggest pain is peeling the peppers. If you've got a
better way -- or have any other suggestions, let me know.

PREP TIME: Broiling Peppers 5-10 min
Peeling Peppers 10-15+ min
COOK TIME: 10 min (but I see no reason why you couldn't microwave it)

NUTRITION:
VERSION 1: Low Glycemic Index, Low Fat & Low Cholesterol
VERSION 2: Low Glycemic Index, higher in natural vegetable fats
VERSION 3: Forget the diet

Have a large bowl if you are dieting, with crackers if Glycemic Index is
irrelevant to you. Would be fine with a chicken salad sandwich.
Goes well with lager beer or iced tea.



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