Alex's White Chili - For Daniel

Several years ago, I was a judge in a chili competition. This was pretty awesome for me, since I love chili to no ends. One of the entries in the non-traditional category was a white chili, made by a guy named Alex. When I first saw it, I admit I thought I would NOT like this chili (as I lean more toward traditional takes on chili), but after tasting it I thought it was fabulous. So I asked Alex for his recipe. As often happens when you ask someone for a recipe that the person makes generally by feel or memory, the recipe you get mostly is a list of ingredients and you have to extrapolate what is meant by this list.

So I extrapolated (and made some "changes" where a required ingredient wasn't really clear or where I thought another ingredient might be tasty too), when it came time for our Second Annual Chili Day (in which we also had our housewarming party, since we moved to a bigger place to accommodate the kid that's on its way). It was really interesting, since the chili offerings were a traditional Texas chili and this white chili. People seemed to like them equally, and I got requests for the recipe for the white chili. Especially from Daniel, who seemed to REALLY like it. So, Daniel, here's the recipe! Hope you all enjoy!

2 pounds chicken (I used thighs for extra flavor, but breasts would be fine too, and I believe are what Alex actually used)
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon each: onion powder, garlic powder, paprika
2 tablespoons olive oil

4-5 quarts chicken broth
1 1/2 pounds dry white beans (any kind, or a mixture, is fine), cooked to package directions
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 tablespoon oregano
2 teaspoons freshly ground cumin
3 minced cloves of garlic
1 large white onion, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1 medium can (11 ounces?) chopped jalepenos or seranos, with liquid
-->


Chop up chicken into really small pieces (bite sized or smaller). Put seasonings in first section on top of chicken pieces, then mash all together with your hands to coat evenly. Heat a large skillet with olive oil and fry the chicken pieces until cooked through. Put the chicken in a large pot, dutch oven, or crock pot. Add to it your broth, cooked beans, spices, onions, garlic and the full can of chilis with their liquid. Bring to a boil and then simmer until the liquid reduces and you have a thick chili. You may need to skim some fat as you go (I did). Top with grated Monterrey jack cheese. Serves 10-20.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lentil, Chick Pea and Eggplant Boil

Image
Sorry for the delay. I actually made this days ago, but due to my busy school schedule (yay! The semester is finally almost over!), I didn't have time until now to post it. I always forget about lentils. I always have them in the house, and like them quite a bit, but most of the time, they don't even exist as an option in my head. I don't know why that is. I've been telling P for a while now I wanted to eat more lentils, so finally I just made some. I also decided to take this as an opportunity to use up some spare veggies laying about. Hope you enjoy! 1/2 anise bulb, sliced 1 small onion, cut into rings 1/2 jalepeno, minced 1 tablespoon olive oil salt to taste 1 cup yellow potato, cubed 2 cups cubed and peeled eggplant 1/3 cup pitted kalamata olives, cut into quarters 1 cup lentils 3 - 4 1/2 cups water 1/2 teaspoon pepper 1/4 teaspoon each: clove, cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground coriander seed 1/2 preserved lemon, diced 1 roma tomato, chopped 1 cup mixe...
Read more

Gems, Lovely Gems

Image
I actually have a bit more homework than I anticipated, so today I just want to tell you guys about gems. It appears that no one really knows what gems are anymore, but back in the 1800s they were a popular, if heavy, treat. So much so, that many pioneers even found room in their wagons to bring a gem pan. By the early 1900s, gems had fallen out of favour and most people just went with muffins. It's a sad, sad thing, really. Traditionally, gem pans were made from cast iron. You can still find beautiful, old cast iron pans on eBay. In fact, aside from scouring antique shops hopefully (and often fruitlessly), eBay is the only place I know that routinely "carries" them. You can find a proper gem pan for as little as US$5, and I've seen them as much as US$300. You just never really know. My advice, however, is to find one that's shallow, made in the mid-1800s (this is when the pans were really in their prime, quality-wise), and in extremely poor condition. I say to fi...
Read more

Bergamot Curd

Image
As promised, here is the curd recipe. This is perfect for scones, toast, just to eat, or for an unusual twist on the filling typically used in those little fruit tarts. If bergamots are not available to you, you could always use lemon, Seville orange, sweet types of orange (cut the sugar a bit though), lime, pomello, grapefruit or any other citrus. Enjoy! 9 ounces freshly squeezed bergamot juice 2 tablespoons finely grated zest 1 1/2 cups sugar 6 eggs 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 12 tablespoons butter, cut into 1 tablespoon bits Whisk all but butter into a saucepan. Begin to heat over medium low heat and add all the butter. Whisking periodically, cook until the whisk marks stay in the curd. Pack into sterilised jars (or you can just put this in a jar and put it in the fridge, if you don't want to can it) and process 15 minutes. Makes about 3 cups.
Read more