White Chicken Chili (NYTimes) by Tom

 

Packed with chicken, corn and beans

As the weather starts to be more fall-like, I get the itch to make chili.  This recipe showed up in the NY Times Cooking section, and I was intrigued.  It looked good and had a technique I had never used before.  Smashing the beans against the side of the pot to thicken the chili.  It works and the result was a satisfyingly thick chili.  Perfect for fall weeknight dinners.

---Tom

White Chicken Chili 

(adapted from a NYTimes recipe by Lidey Heuch) 

Serves 4-6

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large yellow onion, chopped

1 yellow bell pepper - my addition to the recipe - chopped

1 large jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped

2 tablespoons minced garlic

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika or chili powder

Pinch of cayenne pepper, to taste

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 cans low sodium chicken broth

2-3 cans of drained cannellini beans - I actually used just one can plus red kidney beans plus chickpeas

2 4-ounce cans diced green chiles with their liquid

1 plain rotisserie chicken, which should yield 2 1/2 - 3 cups shredded chicken, bones removed

1 14.5 ounce can sweet corn kernels, well-drained

Half a lime 

Shredded Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese for serving

Fritos or similar tortilla corn chips for serving

In a large Dutch oven or pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Add the onion, jalapeno and yellow pepper and cook, stirring frequently until the onions are tender.  This should take 6-7 minutes.  Add the garlic, oregano, cumin, paprika, cayenne, salt and a few grinds of black pepper.  Cook for another minute or so until fragrant.

Add the chicken broth, beans, diced chiles with their liquid.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Once boiling, lower the heat and simmer until the broth has reduced to roughly half.  Stir occasionally.  This should take about 20 minutes or so.

Off the heat, use a wooden spoon to mash some of the beans against the side of the pot.  Continue mashing the beans until the broth is noticeably thicker.

Return the pot to the medium heat.  Stir in the chicken and corn, and cook until heated through.  This will take about 3-5 minutes.  Juice the half lime over the pot and stir in.  Taste for seasoning.  If necessary add a bit more salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper if desired.

Serve the chili in bowls with the shredded cheese and corn chips.

Although this chili is really good as is, both Barbara and I agreed that it needed some crunch as it is a rather soft chili.  Adding carrot slices would probably be a good addition to this recipe.  It would also add some color.

We froze a container to be able to have something to eat when we returned from a vacation in Maine.  It froze very well and tasted like I had just made it.  

This is a "keeper recipe".  Easy to make and very satisfying.

---Tom