Ok, I'm really bored at work and making out a shopping list for tonight. I'm planning on getting supplies to make a large pot of chili, but I wasn't sure what kind I wanted to make. I'm going to get the stuff to make two different kinds, so I can choose later. Both of the recipes I use come pretty much from cans, so they are really easy to make.
My traditional chili goes something like this.
A pound or two of ground hamburger, browned in a skillet, along with a diced onion or two, and 3 bell peppers. Usually a green, red and orange for the colors. A couple cans of chili beans, a couple can's of stewed tomatoes, a couple cans of tomato juice (depending on the size of the pot) and lots of chili powder. I also like to throw in a can of beer if we have it in the house. If I want to spice it up, I will throw in a few sliced jalapeno peppers. I like to let it cook in a crock pot untill the onions and peppers are no longer crunchy. I leave the crock pot on the counter until all the chili is gone, never refrigerating it. Well, maybe the last bowl will get put in the fridge so I can clean the crock pot. Depending on how much the wife eats, it could last a week.
White chicken chili is the other kind I like to make. I got the recipe off of a show on public radio about a year ago.
Here is the recipe that I got off of there website. Very easy as well, and it tastes great. The only major thing that I do different from this recipe is that I drain and rinse the beans, but I don't add the liquid from the beans back into the chili. I throw it out.
2 Tbs Olive oil
2 Large Onions
4 Large Garlic cloves, chopped
2 Tbs Ground cumin
2 tsp Dried italian spiced mix
1 pound Boneless, skinless, chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 15 oz cans Cannellini beans (white kidney beans)
1 Can Red kidney beans
2 Cans Low sodium chicken broth
2 7 oz cans Green chilies, diced
1/2 cup Monterey Jack cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Chopped parsley
Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, cumin, and Italian spice. Saute' 5 minutes. Push onion to one side of pan.
Season chicken with salt and pepper and add to pan. Saute' chicken approximately 5 minutes.
Drain beans; reserve bean liquid. Add beans, low-sodium chicken broth, diced green chilies, and reserved bean liquid to chicken. Simmer about 10 minutes until chicken is tender and cooked through. Add monteray jack cheese and simmer until melted. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Ladle chili into bowls. Top with cheese and parsley.
I have an entire chili cook book at home, but I have yet to try any thing from it. Maybe this will be the year to experiment.
So, how do you make your chili?