Chicken Soup for the Soul, Winston-Salem style
Sometimes, I get a little obsessed with a dish or two. When I came back from France last year, it was garlicky lentils and salad Lyonnaise. The year before, it was New Orleans’ barbecue shrimp, with Pimm’s Cups to wash them down (or drink as a cocktail - I’d actually rather have wine with the shrimp, or the Lousiana beer Abita).
Right now, my husband and I are renovating (on the cheap, on a tight budget and all ourselves, so slowly) our kitchen so I’ve been a little unambitious there lately. With half the new cabinets in, and half the old cabinets there and in pieces, things are too crazy. The new dishwasher is still in its box, in our dining room, and there are drawers with odds and ends in them stacked in our office because there is just no where for them to go right now. No, right now, I’m obsessed with a restaurant dish that speaks completely of coziness and home - chicken tortilla soup at La Botana.
I know I talk about La Botana a lot, but owner Rigo Valazquez makes one killer tortilla soup that I can’t get enough of. He serves the smooth, slightly grainy broth in a large, shallow bowl, and topped with sour cream, hot, crisp tortilla strips and lots of fresh avocado. The soup is rich, yet it has this undercurrent of freshness, perhaps lime? Oh, boy. And on a chilly, rainy night like tonight, it would sure hit the spot. It’s not on the regular menu, so you’ll have to ask if the kitchen can make it for you. I hope for your sake the answer is yes.
