I love trying new recipes, whether it’s canning or making a new stovetop recipe, and my goal is always to find something that makes dinnertime a little bit quicker. With my busy editing schedule, I don’t always find enough time to cook something that’s healthy, and I get tired of having to rely on takeout and delivery. Since I grew tomatillos in the garden this year, I’ve been on the hunt for different canning recipes to use them in. I already knew I was going to make some kind of salsa with them, but then I stumbled upon the Aztec Chicken Soup recipe in the All New Ball Book of Canning and Preserving, so I thought I’d give this a whirl. I was also growing jalapenos and poblano peppers in the garden, so the only thing I needed to find was some fresh sweet corn. Luckily, when I made this, sweet corn was beginning to appear locally, so I went for it.

I used chicken breast in this recipe, as I always have it on hand. The recipe calls for fresh lime juice, but you can substitute bottled lime juice if that’s what you have. Just a note — when a recipe calls for fresh lemon or lime juice, you can always substitute bottled but not the other way around.

The recipe says the yield is 6 pints, but I ended up with 4-1/2 pints, so your results may vary.

Aztec Chicken Soup

1 large poblano pepper

1 to 2 jalapeno peppers

6 fresh tomatillos, husks removed

1-1/2 cups chopped white onion (about 1 large onion)

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 ears fresh sweet corn

3 garlic cloves, minced

4 cups chicken stock

2/3 cup fresh lime juice (about 7 limes)

1-1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1-1/2 pounds skinned and boned chicken thighs or breasts, cut into 1-inch chunks

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Arrange first 3 ingredients on a large rimmed baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 minutes of until vegetables are soft and skins are beginning to blister, turning peppers every 5 minutes. Remove vegetables from the oven. Transfer peppers to a small bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let stand for 20 minutes. Let tomatillos stand on baking sheet until cool enough to handle. Coarsely chop tomatillos and place in a medium bowl.

After peppers have stood for 20 minutes, peel, seed, and chop. Add to the tomatillos.

Saute onion and cumin in hot olive oil in a 6-quart stainless steel or enameled Dutch oven over medium-high heat for 12 minutes or until onion is softened.

Cut tips of corn kernels into a large bowel. Scrape milk and remaining pulp from cobs. Add corn and garlic to onion in the Dutch oven. Cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes. Stir in chopped peppers, chopped tomatillos, chicken stock, and next 3 ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes, stirring often. Stir in chicken. Bring to a boil over high heat. Boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Ladle hot soup into a hot jar, leaving 1-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Wipe jar lid. Center lid on jar. Apply band and adjust until fingertip tight. Repeat until all jars are filled.

Can at 10 pounds of pressure (for weighted gauge canner) or 11 pounds for a dial-gauge canner (adjusting for altitude). Process pints for 1 hour 15 minutes or quarts for 1 hour 30 minutes.

Yield: About 6 pints

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