Preparation / Directions:
* Corn Tortillas should be cut into 1/2-inch wide strips.
Brown the chicken in two non-stick skillets in 2 tablespoons of olive or peanut oil until golden brown. Do not burn the chicken or the drippings in the pan.
While chicken is browning, sauté the onions and garlic in a little oil until translucent. Transfer to stock pot.
When chicken is browned, transfer chicken and chicken fat to the stock pot. Deglaze the skillets with some of the water and transfer to the stock pot. Add the remaining water, the chicken broth, basil leaves, paprika, and chilies. Add salt and pepper. Cover the pot and simmer for 2 hours.
Remove chicken pieces and debone the meat. Put the stock through a strainer and discard all solids that are not good chicken meat. Chop the chicken into 1/4" chunks and return to stock pot along with the chopped tomatoes.
Skim as much of the chicken fat off surface of soup as possible and discard. Or put soup in refrigerator overnight and remove crystallized fat and discard.
Heat the frying oil in a 10-inch skillet until hot.
Cook tortilla strips a few at a time in oil until light golden brown, 30 to 60 seconds; drain on paper towels.
Store-bought tortilla can be substituted but use restaurant style.
Serving:
Place a handful of tortilla strips in a bowl and pour hot soup over tortilla strips. Give each bowl of soup a dash of lime/lemon juice, as much as a teaspoon. Top each bowl of soup with some of the grated cheese and a few avocado slices.
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