Smoked Fideo Loco (Tex-Mex Style)
Serves 6-8
Fideo Soup Ingredients:
2 tbsp oil
2 boxes of fideo noodles
1 lb ground turkey
1 lb ground chicken
1.5 lbs small potatoes (quartered) or medium diced russet potatoes
½ large smoked onion, diced
1 smoked poblano pepper
1 smoked serrano pepper
15 oz can petite diced tomatoes with chilis
8 oz can of tomato sauce
15 oz can borracho beans
15 oz can charro beans
6 cups turkey or chicken stock
Meat Seasoning Ingredients:
2 tbsp Hardcore Carnivore Tex-Mex seasoning (optional)
1 tbsp garlic powder
½ tbsp onion powder
½ tbsp chili powder
½ tbsp cumin
½ tbsp Mexican oregano
½ tbsp paprika
¼ tbsp cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
Pico de gallo Ingredients:
½ large smoked onion
1 smoked poblano pepper, diced
1 smoked serrano pepper, diced
3 tomatoes, diced
1 bunch cilantro, minced
1 lime, juiced and zested
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ tbsp cumin
¼ tbsp chili powder
¼ tbsp garlic powder
¼ tbsp onion powder
¼ tbsp paprika
¼ tbsp cayenne pepper
Directions:
In a large bowl, put the ground turkey and chicken. Then add the seasonings, mix with your hands to combine, and refrigerate.
While the meat is marinating, start up your smoker and set the temperature to 225-245 degrees. If you don’t have a smoker, you can use a propane grill. Soak some wood chips (I prefer oak) and put in aluminum foil. Prepare a few of these bags in case you start to lose smoke while cooking the meat, vegetables, and fideo noodles. Set the chips near your burners with tongs. This will eventually create enough smoke. Add the meat first to a sheet pan and smoke for about an hour, or until cooked through.
Take the meat out and use a spatula to cut the meat into small pieces. Add onions, poblanos, and serranos to the smoker, and place a sheet pan of fideo noodles on the smoker. Smoke for about 2 hours, or until the noodles are dark in color and the vegetables soften a bit.
Set the noodles aside and heat a Dutch oven over medium with 2 tablespoons of oil. Medium-chop onions and poblanos, and either remove the seeds from the Serrano or leave half or all in, depending on how spicy you want it. I do half seeds, dice the serrano small, and mince two cloves of garlic. Add onions, poblanos, and serranos to the pot and sweat for 4-6 minutes, then add minced garlic. Cook until fragrant. Then add medium-diced potatoes to the pot.
Now add canned diced tomatoes and chilis, tomato sauce, borracho beans, and charro beans. Add 6 cups of stock or broth. Turkey or chicken is fine. Simmer for 45 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
This is when I re-season all my soups. Taste and add more of the basic dry seasoning from the list above. After the soup is tender, add fideo noodles and simmer for 15 more minutes, or until the noodles are al dente.
For pico de gallo:
While the soup is simmering, make pico de gallo. Get a good-sized bowl and dice the other half of the onion, smoked poblano, and smoked serrano. Add to bowl. Mince the cilantro and zest one lime with juice, and add to the bowl. Add all seasonings and stir. Adjust for desired flavor.
Presentation:
In a deep or shallow bowl, add fideo. Then a small dollop of sour cream and smoked pico de gallo. Sprinkle with cojita cheese and cilantro. Squeeze some more lime juice and serve!
