White Chicken Chili

Life has been a whirlwind, and my postings have been less than consistent. My office hosted it's first annual chili cook-off on Friday and I won (in a tie) for the people's choice award. I make up a lot of my recipes, so remember to taste as you go as I don't really know the real measurements!

Ingredients:

-Large Package of Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs (in our grocery store-Family Pak), trimmed of fat and cut into consistent size pieces.

-2 packages of Pancetta cubes, if you cannot find Pancetta, you could substitute finely chopped Applewood smoked bacon

-1 large red onion, finely chopped

-3 heads of roasted garlic

-4 roasted jalapeno peppers

-2 roasted poblanos

-2-3 cups Chicken Stock

-2 cans of Canneloni Beans

-Can of Beer, I used Bud Light, but would probably use a hoppy beer, like an IPA

-Cumin

-Red Pepper Flakes

-Chili Powder

-Paprika

-Cayenne Pepper

-White Pepper

-Salt

-Olive Oil

I use my large Le Creuset dutch onion to make this, start with some Olive Oil in the pan over medium heat on the stove. Add the onions and sweat for about 10 minutes until they start to carmelize, add the pancetta, lower the hear slightly, stir and cover for another 10-15 minutes.

During this time, start roasting the garlic and peppers. Heat oven to 400 degrees. To roast, take 3 pieces of Aluminum foil and separate the veggies. Coat each veggie with a little olive oil, cut the tops off the garlic so you can see the cloves. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper, and wrap the peppers and garlic in foil. Peppers are roasted when the color changes and the skin starts to pucker...approximately 30 minutes. Garlic takes a little longer-approximately 45 minutes, it will be a golden color and soft to the touch. I recommend checking the peppers and garlic every 15 minutes.

Once the onions and pancetta have reached a nice golden color, add the chicken. Mix the onions, pancetta and chicken together over medium heat and add salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, cumin, paprika, cayenne pepper, chili powder and white pepper until it starts smelling like chili. Keep stirring over medium heat, once the chicken starts to cook, add the beer. Cover and lower heat and let simmer for about an hour. Stir occasionally, and once the chicken is cooked, taste and season more to your taste.

Drain and rinse the beans and add them to the chicken, at this time add 2-3 cups of chicken stock (I use the Chicken Better than Boullion). At this time, chop all of the roasted peppers and squeeze the roasted garlic into the chili. Stir everything together, and lower the heat and simmer for an hour to 2 hours. The liquid will start to reduce, if it gets thick, then add more liquid.

Once the chili is cooked to the consistency and taste preference, serve with crumbled Blue Corn Tortilla Chips and shredded cheese.

Enjoy!