WHITE BEAN CHICKEN CHILI

It's now December, which means it is officially chili weather.  Yes, it was 60 degrees outside today, and the high tomorrow is 67.  Whatevs, I made chili, and it was GOOD.

My sister stopped by for dinner, and after finishing her meal commented, "Wow.  That had a lot of great flavor.  I was expecting it to taste really boring!"  I guess her prior experiences with white chicken chili were not so great.  Sister, you are WELCOME!

Now, white bean chicken chili can be broth based, or it can be a thicker, stew like chili.  I went for the latter with this recipe.  If you'd like it to be more brothy, read the detailed instructions.  Here we go!

First, cook chicken and break into smaller pieces.  Add diced onions and seasonings.

Next, pour in stock, chiles and drained beans, then cover.

Bring to a boil, then simmer for 25 minutes.  If you'd like a less liquidy chili, simmer uncovered.

After 25 minutes of simmering, your chili may look like this:

That was a bit too brothy for my taste, so I added refried beans.  It sounds weird but it really binds it up, and both people I served this meal to tonight didn't believe there were refried beans in it!  I've added anywhere from 1/4 a can to the entire thing, depending on how much I wanted the chili to thicken up.  I used the entire can this time.

 

Perfect.  Thank you, refried beans!

These rolls were SO GOOD with some melted butter brushed on top before baking.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 onion, diced
3 cloves minced garlic
1 1/2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne (less or more, depending on your spice preference)
2 cans chopped green chiles, 4 ounces, undrained
26 ounces chicken stock
4 cans white cannellini beans, 15.5 ounces each, drained and rinsed
1 can refried beans

Heat olive oil in large stockpot over medium heat.  Add chicken and diced onion.  Break chicken into smaller pieces as it cooks, until it is no longer pink.  Add garlic, cumin, chili powder, salt and cayenne.  Stir and cook for about 2 minutes.  Pour in chiles, chicken stock and white beans.  Cover and simmer for about 25 minutes.  For a less brothy chili, simmer uncovered.  To thicken chili, add refried beans by the spoonful, stirring constantly as it simmers.  Top with shredded cheese, sour cream and/or hot sauce.

CHILI

I've never made chili before.  I know, that's a shocking declaration from a professional chef such as myself.  I enjoy all types of chili: white chicken, beef, veggie, spicy, Hard Times Cincinnati, beany, etc.  I decided it was time to finally make my own, so I did some research and decided I just didn't LOVE any recipes, so I made one up.  I think it resembles Wendy's chili a bit, but is also just a simple meaty and hearty chili.  And dare I say, healthy?  It was super delicious and I feel comfortable using the L word now.  As with all chili, the longer you cook it, the better it tastes.  I cooked it 9 hours overnight then left it on warm for a few hours before serving.

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground pork
3 cans petite diced tomatoes (I like Hunt's) undrained
2 cans Bush's Chili Seasoned Beans (medium heat) undrained
1 can light red kidney beans undrained
1-2 cups diced onion
1 cup diced green peppers
3 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons cumin
2-3 teaspoons fresh minced garlic
Tabasco sauce, chipotle smoked flavor, to taste (I used about 8-10 splashes)
salt to taste

Brown ground beef and pork in skillet, crumbling it as you go.  Stir in salt to flavor the meat, then drain off any liquid.  Pour in crockpot and add remaining ingredients.  Stir, cover and cook on low for about 8-9 hours.  Keep on warm setting until ready to serve.  Serve with cheese, sour cream, additional hot sauce and chips.

SKILLET CHILI AND RICE

Another day, another one skillet dinner.  My favorite!  I found this recipe here.  This meal does not photograph well, but you've seen chili before, right?  And rice?  Okay there you go.

I wasn't able to find the special Rotel the recipe calls for, so I just used a can of the mild flavor, two tablespoons of chili powder and a few shakes of this stuff:

Thanks, Allison, for bringing this amazing seasoning into my life!  It's a cajun seasoning that can be used on fries, pasta dishes, seafood or basically anything you'd like to kick up a notch in the flavor department.  You can buy it on Amazon and I've even seen it at World Market.

This recipe calls for shredded cheddar, and I beg you to shred your own rather than purchasing the bagged kind.  It tastes creamier and melts better!  And look, how gorgeous is that?

I let this simmer 5 minutes longer than called for because my rice wasn't fully cooked after 20 minutes.  We topped our bowls with a tad more seasoning, sour cream, and Fritos scoops.  And salt.  I can't help it, I'm an addict.  Don't tell my mom.

Oh, and did I mention we ate this for dessert?

It requires a can of creamed corn and melted butter.  What's not to love?  Now, if you'll excuse me, my sweatpants and the couch are calling.