Cowboy Chicken spices up southwest chicken and rice soup

Is there anything better than a fresh rotisserie chicken?

It's what Cowboy Chicken, a new restaurant at Sunset Walk in Kissimmee, is known for.

After visiting for a great meal, you can also take some of their chicken and fresh lemonades home as the base for a ton of fun meals.

Franchise owner Paul Bellanca shows how to use those ingredients to make southwest chicken and rice soup with a spicy cucumber jalapeño margarita.

Local wood is the foundation of flavor at Cowboy Chicken. It is what Bellanca loves most about his place.

"Adds a little flavor," said Bellanca.

Aside from the golden-brown star of the show, of course.

"I love the rotisserie chicken here," said Bellanca.

That mouthwatering chicken is where Bellanca starts when it comes to making southwest chicken and rice soup.

"Falling off the bone, very moist, tender — slow roasted for two hours," said Bellanca.

Once he's got the chicken ready, it's time to switch to vegetables. Everything here is made entirely from scratch.

"What I will do is prepare the garnishes, which are some cilantro, the radishes, green onion, jalapeños and that is what we will garnish with," said Bellanca.

Once that is done, it's time to start assembling the soup, starting with throwing the chicken bones in a pot with some crushed garlic and ginger as nothing goes to waste in this kitchen. He adds some chicken stock and turns up the heat for about 25 minutes to really bring out the flavor. And he knows exactly what to do during the wait.

"We are just going to let it simmer and make some margaritas," said Bellanca.

With the help of Cowboy Chicken, you’ll only need a few ingredients from your bar cart.

"This is using our ingredients — a jalapeño cucumber lemonade. We are going to take the jalapeño cucumber lemonade, a little tequila, some triple sec and some agave," said Bellanca. "I like the spice. It is different. It is not like any other margarita you’ve ever had…it's got a little kick to it and it goes down smooth."

From there, all that's left to do is blend, grab a glass, and serve up this refreshing summer classic.

By the time that is done, it is time to head back to the kitchen.

Bellanca wants to add a special touch to the soup, frying up some of the chicken skin for a nice topping.

"It is kind of like chicken bacon," said Bellanca.

The smells draw him back to the soup, which he strains so only the flavorful stock is left.

Then he starts building the soup, start by adding a little bit of sugar and soy and, of course, some rice. All that is left to add comes from that juicy chicken.

"I think that the white meat has a lot of the rotisserie seasoning in it as well as the dark, but the dark meat is a little bit moist and juicy and has a little bit more flavor than the white meat," said Bellanca.

After some stirring, everything is perfectly combined.

All that is left to do is add the garnish, and it is ready to taste.

A tasty home-cooked meal with a lot of work already done for you!

Here are the full recipes to try:

Spicy Cucumber Jalapeno Lemonade Margarita

For this recipe, you’ll need: Tequila (of your choice), Cowboy Chicken Cucumber Jalapeno Lemonade, sliced jalapenos (optional), sliced cucumbers, Tajin seasoning, lemon slices (optional), and ice.

Ingredients2 Cups of Cucumber Cucumber Jalapeno Lemonade from Cowboy Chicken1/2 Cup of silver tequila1 oz orange liqueur1/2 simple syrup/agave nectar1 oz fresh lime juice2 cups of ice

Garnish (optional)Lemon, slicedJalapeno, slicedCucumber, slicedFresh Mint leaves

Directions

Southwest Chicken and Rice Soup:

Here is a printable recipe card.

Ingredients

*note: Chef uses 2 to 8.5 oz microwave steam in bag jasmine rice pouches. Reserve the remaining, after the 3 cups, for another purpose.

How to prepare

To serve: