Chili Blanco

This recipe calls for roasted chiles, so I charred them on the stovetop and put them in a paper bag to steam the skin off. Then, I rubbed the burnt part of the skin off and chopped them to add to the chili. Sendik's didn't have enough of these for my chili, so I got a couple and used some sliced bell peppers from my freezer (after sauteeing them on high heat for a few minutes) and some roasted canned chiles as well.

This recipe (or the original anyway) came from a Williams Sonoma catalog of long ago. I tried to find the original recipe on the internet but wasn't successful, so this is my version which has been adapted for the crockpot. I do like chili and Eleanor isn't a tomato fan, so this recipe works well for all of us.

Soak 2 c dried white beans while getting the rest of the chili ready.

While the beans are soaking.....

Heat olive oil in skillet and add:

2 c finely chopped onion

chopped roasted chiles...about 6 total

1 1/2 t oregano

1/4 t dried cloves

1/4 t cayenne
2 cloves garlic, minced

Add 2 chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces and stir until browned.
Put that mixture into the crockpot and add:
2 small cans chicken broth.
Drain the beans and put them in the crockpot

Simmer in crockpot for the day.
Serve with cheese, onions, chips, etc.

That all sounds really organized, right? What really happened when I went to make it for the blog post is that I soaked the beans on a day off. Then, I realized that I didn't have enough time to make the chili on the stove, so left the beans and refrigerated the roasted peppers. I worked a VERY long day the next day, so I completely forgot about the beans soaking in a bowl on the counter. When I got up the next morning and took the lid off the beans....I thought I would fall over from the terrible fermenting smell. Luck was with me....it was garbage day and it hadn't been picked up yet, so the beans made a quick trip to the garbage can outside in time for the pick up. I didn't have time on this day to let the chili simmer on the stove for the 2 hours in the original recipe, so I came up with the version posted today using the crockpot. I decided that I like it better than the original since the crockpot doesn't have to be watched while doing its thing.

I made the cornbread shown in the picture and served it with a bit of white cheddar. It wasn't a very soupy consistency, so I think that increasing the liquid would be a good idea. Maybe another cup of water in the crockpot? We liked it this way and were glad that I found this recipe card from long ago. I will probably file this in my crockpot recipes now, which will probably mean that we will eat it a bit more frequently.

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