It’s Chili Season

The week of Halloween always screams two things:  candy and chili.   We often gather around the neighborhood with chili and share before trick or treating.  This year, we did not gather, but the chili tradition was still alive.   I love chili, especially white chicken chili.   I found a jar of Hatch chilis I hadn’t used yet, and dedicated that to my pot of chicken chili.  I often clean out the extra container of salsa from the fridge and just dump them into my chili pot.   The beauty of soup – you find what you have a put it all together!

This chili is layered with flavor.   You’ll notice in the instructions the cumin, chili powder and oregano are added in the front of the recipe instead of towards the end.   The reason is that we want to bloom our flavor with these spices with the heat and oil.  This will reactive the flavor and help liven the chilis.

One key step is the roasting of the poblanos.   This is a step to help remove the tough outer skin which is difficult to digest. Roasting also add flavors to the pepper.   There are two ways that you can do this.   One option is to broil them.  Put on a sheet tray, and place under the broiler.   No need to coat with oil, just unadulterated naked pepper.   Rotate the pepper to ensure that all sides are charred and blistered.   The second option is if you have a gas stove.  Turn on the burner and put the pepper on the flame, rotating until all sides are charred and blistered.    After the pepper is black and bubbled, place it in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap.   This process helps steam the skin from the flesh of the pepper.  Let it sit for at least 10 minutes before peeling the skin off the pepper.

After the poblano step, it starts the journey to delicious town.   I hope that you enjoy! Stay warm friends.

White Chicken Poblano Chili

The perfect fall chili to with subtle heat and warmth

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Course Soup

Cuisine American

Ingredients

  

• 1 medium red onion, chopped
• 1 yellow pepper, chopped
• 2 poblano peppers, roasted, skinned, seeded and chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 20 oz chicken 3-4 chicken breast
• 1 16oz jar of salsa verde
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1 can pinto bean, drained
• 1 can navy bean, drained
• 1 15 oz can Rotel tomatoes with green chilies
• 2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoon ground chili powder
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 2 cups half and half
• ¼ cup chopped cilantro
• 1 lime, juiced

Instructions

 

• Over an open flame or broiler, char your poblano pepper and then put into a bowl and cover. Allow to sit for 10-15 minutes. Then peel off the charred skins and deseed. Chop and set aside.
• In a Dutch oven or large pot over medium heat, heat up 2 Tablespoon of oil, then add the red onions, poblano pepper, and bell pepper. Saute the chopped onion until they are , about 5-7 minutes. Add in the chili powder, cumin, oregano, and garlic, and saute for about 1 minutes.
• Then add in the stock, rotel tomatoes and salsa verde.
• Lastly, add in the chicken breast. Let come to a simmer, and lower flame to medium low and cook for 20-30 minutes. Pull out the cooked chicken breast, and shred.
• Add in the half and half, beans, and shredded chicken and let simmer for 10 minutes, then throw in the cilantro and juice of one lime. Garnish with one avocado and candied jalapeno. Ready for service.

If wanting to modify to make vegetarian

• Omit the chicken stock and substitute with vegetable stock. And omit chicken. Add in an extra can of beans if you'd like.

Keyword chicken, chili, poblano