• Place the dried peppers in a bowl and cover them with about a cup of hot tap water.
  3 dried Mexican peppers - guajillo, pasilla, and ancho
  
• Heat the tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until it is well browned, about 7-8 minutes. Add the garlic and cumin and cook for 1 minute more.
  1 tablespoon cooking oil, 1 medium onion, 3 cloves garlic, 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  
• Pull the stems off of the peppers. Add the peppers and the soaking water into your blender. Add the cooked onion and blend until smooth. If it is too thick to blend properly, add some of the stock. Pour this liquid into your crockpot or a large soup pot.
  
• Add the chicken thighs, chicken stock, sea salt, and tomatoes. Set the crockpot to high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours. If cooking in a pot, you want the pot to simmer very gently.
  8 skinless bone-in chicken thighs, 8 cups chicken stock, 1 tablespoon sea salt, 15 ounce can diced tomatoes
  
• Remove the chicken from the crockpot or pot. Separate the meat from the bones and discard the bones and shred the meat. Return the meat to the pot and add the black beans and corn and let them heat through.
  15 ounce can black beans, 2 cups frozen corn
  
• Serve the chicken tortilla soup with the tortillas on top and any or all of the optional toppings.
  Optional toppings: sour cream, queso, limes, cilantro
  

The crispy tortillas

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Put the tortilla strips on a baking sheet and toss them with the oil. Spread them out on the baking sheet, then put them in your oven. Let them toast for about 10-15 minutes, gently mixing them up twice until they are lightly browned. Remove them from the oven. Note: they will continue to crisp as they cool.
  1 teaspoon cooking oil, 4 large tortillas cut into thin strips