Amazing Chicken Tortilla Soup - cooking recipe

Ingredients

cooked chicken (leftover roasted or rotisserie)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 (10 ounce) can Rotel tomatoes & chilies
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
2 inches piece Velveeta cheese, cubed
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
8 corn tortillas
oil
sour cream (optional)

Preparation

Put chicken, skin bones and all, into a pot with 2 quarts of lightly salted water, and bring to boil. Important: the skin and bones make the broth taste great. that's where the flavor is. this wont work using skinless, boneless chicken breasts.
Reduce heat and simmer until chicken is starting to loosen from the bones and broth looks. well. like broth. (about 20 minutes).
Carefully, remove chicken from broth making sure to get any little bones that may be on the bottom of the pot. Set chicken aside to let cool.
Add onion, Rotel, cumin, garlic, chili powder, and black pepper to the pot. Add 1/2 tsp crushed pepper for medium heat, less if you like it mild, or more if you like it spicy. I use 1 teaspoons.
Stir, and let simmer until chicken is cool enough to handle.
Tear off chicken meat and place back into pot discarding skin and bones.
Cut off about a 2 inch section from a log of Velveeta cheese, then cut into cubes.
Add cheese, and cilantro to soup and stir over low heat until cheese is melted into the soup. Let simmer stirring often.
Stack corn tortillas and slice into thin shreds with a sharp knife. Cook tortilla shreds in a small amount of hot oil until crisp. Drain on paper towels.
To serve, ladle soup into individual bowls and top with a dollop of sour cream (optional) and the tortilla strips.