Rachel's White Chicken Chili

Hello everyone! Well, Liz has been majorly slacking on her food blog so I, her lovely sister, shall contribute the delicious soup I made tonight. White Chili!!

2 TBSP olive oil
1/2 finely chopped onion
2 garlic cloves minced
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
64oz chicken broth
1 poblano pepper, finely chopped
1 tsp cumin seeds or 1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
30 oz Great Northern beans
1 c. heavy cream

Season the chicken breasts with salt, pepper and Italian seasoning. You don't have to use the Italian seasoning if you don't want, but I like the added flavor. I season the chicken breasts decently heavily because when I cube them, they always end up getting shredded as well, so the seasonings mix well all over. I cook my chicken breasts at 425 degree for about 25 minutes, but I use organic-fed, free range chicken breasts so they are a little smaller than others.

While the chicken breasts are cooking I usually start chopping my onion, pepper and garlic. Then I set that aside in a bowl. The original recipe that I looked at uses canned green chiles, but I don't use them for a couple of reasons. 1) I think canning peppers really affects the flavor, in a negative way. So I don't think adding the canned chiles really adds a whole lot to the dish 2) if you aren't familiar with peppers, the poblano is a smoky, medium spiced pepper. Not as hot as a jalapeno at all, but more hot then a regular green pepper. Poblanos can usually be found at any grocery and the good ones are dark green in color and not wrinkled or shriveled at all. 3) I think using fresh vegetables whenever possible makes everything taste better.

Heat the olive oil on medium heat. Add the cumin seeds. My friend actually suggested cumin seeds to me whenever she gave me a recipe for curry (which was excellent) rather than ground because the flavor is much richer and a tad stronger, and I would totally agree. I found my cumin seeds at an Indian grocery, so I don't really know if you can get them at Wal-Mart. Probably though; I think they are pretty common. If you don't use cumin too often or don't feel like buying seeds, you can use the powder. Just add the cumin with the rest of the spices instead of now.

Once the cumin has sweat a little, about a minute or so, (or if you aren't using cumin and the oil is hot), add the pepper, onion and garlic. Let that sweat a while, about 6-8 minutes I'd say until the onion and pepper are soft. Add the cubed chicken, chicken broth, oregano, (cumin if you are using ground), and cayenne pepper. To be honest, I don't ever measure my cayenne pepper but I would estimate a 1/4 tsp. (Don't be afraid of the cayenne unless you are INCREDIBLY sensitive to heat. The smoky hotness of the cayenne plus the smoky light heat of the poblano and the cumin are lovely together. The end result is more of a warmth in the back of your throat with a slight kick at the end than actual spiciness.)

Bring that to a boil. Reduce to low heat and add the beans and the cream. Let that simmer for a while, 20-30 minutes, or heated thoroughly. Like most chili, it'll probably taste the best leftover the next day.

The original recipe that I used is from the Selhorst Family Favorites cookbook. That recipe doesn't have cream and it has shredded Monterey Jack cheese as a topping when served. I don't think that cheese is necessary since I use cream, but if you really like cheese, you can add it. I would actually recommend cheddar though. Some would disagree I'm sure, but I think the sharpness of the cheddar would complement the soup very well.

Also, Liz informed me that with spicier chicken dishes like this, a sweet wine, such as a Riesling, would complement it well because it would take out some of the heat. But I chose a Sauvingnon Blanc for two reasons. 1) I don't like Rieslings because I think they are too sweet. and 2) I don't think the dish is spicy enough that it needs anything to cut out the heat. I think that the added cream takes care of that. But you can do what you want.

P.S. - My boyfriend, Justin, who has been mentioned in here before for his own chili recipe and his tomato soup, told me that this recipe is perfect. Hopefully you all agree! Happy cooking!