White Bean Chicken Chili

     We recently hosted a small Christmas card family get together for my husband’s family (mostly as a last ditch effort to force ourselves to actually send some out this year). Everybody came with their Christmas cards and address books, and the plan was to make it a group activity. Every year my husband and my intentions and plans for Christmas cards get more elaborate, and each year we fail miserably. This year we were going to take photos for the cards at a Christmas tree farm, the children frolicking like tiny adorable wood nymphs among the trees, me looking like a winter goddess, and my husband manly and strapping as he cut down our tree in his annual Christmas kilt. The reality? It’s the day before the Christmas card party. My 10 year old has lost his only slightly festive and dressy sweater: reindeer t-shirt substituted. We were unable to gather our brood and leave the house as planned that morning before baby’s naptime: instead we rolled down the driveway at 4:45 p.m., just as the sun was going down. My husband is a man determined at this point, and still considered making the trek even after his GPS announced we were 40 minutes from the tree farm. Needless to say, pictures were NOT happening. A 10 minute trip to Home Depot for a tree was in our future.

Last year's Christmas photo. Will probably take us another 12 months to do this year's.

     Thankfully, the party was much more successful than our efforts to document our family for the holidays. While the company was awesome, the cookies were divine (OMG everybody must try the Jo’s peppermint cookies from World Market), and the children were adorably well behaved and entertaining, the white bean chicken chili was the piece de resistance. I’ve always loved beans, and this recipe is one of my favorites. This time, however, was off the charts due to borrowing a page from my mother’s brilliance and the innovation forced by missing ingredients. On a side note, my mother successfully freezes cooked beans, and I suspect this meal would translate well into a freezer meal. It is also very cost effective, as I fed 10+ people for under about $15.

     At the last minute I realized I did not have a sufficient amount of frozen homemade chicken stock (gasp!) in the freezer. Thankfully, I had some frozen homemade chicken bouillon squares my mom had made as an experiment, which she made by reducing a gallon of her chicken broth down to approximately 1 cup, then freezing on parchment paper. At the time I had no idea how concentrated these squares were, so I started with the two cups of water and 3-4 squares of the bouillon (approximately 2 in. squares). The broth this made was deep brown like beef broth, and smelled amazing. I had no idea this recipe could taste this good until I took my first bite. 

     My husband, who is usually a man of few words at the dinner table, muttered to himself at least 3 times, “Wow, this is really good.” Even more impressive, my 10 year old took his first bite then looked at me and said, “Wow, I had no idea this was going to taste like this!” This soup received rave reviews from my husband’s family, and was the perfect recipe to make a triple batch and feed a crowd of 10+. The original recipe calls for it to be cooked in the slow cooker (Low, 3.5 hours), but I've done it both in the pressure cooker (High, for 20 minutes) and in the oven (250 for 2 hours) with great results.

Best served with crusty bread or cornbread. 

White Bean Chicken Chili

3/4 pound chicken thighs, cubed

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped (I’m lazy and mash jarred diced jalapeno with a fork)

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 15-oz cans white beans (I prefer Great Northern, made from scratch to avoid BPA)

3 cups chicken broth (or water with a few squares of reduced broth bouillon, recipe HERE!)

Optional toppings: sharp cheddar, sour cream, cilantro

Directions:

1. Brown cubed chicken in oil

2. Add onions and garlic the last few minutes and cook until the onions are translucent.

3. Rinse and drain beans into oven-proof pot/pressure cooker/slow cooker, and add broth and spices.

4. Mash the beans lightly a few times with a potato masher, as this thickens the final soup into a creamy stew-like consistency.

5. Add chicken and onion mixture into oven-proof pot/pressure cooker/slow cooker and stir.

6. Slow cook on low 3-3.5 hours OR pressure cook on high 20 minutes OR bake at 250 for 1.5-2 hours or until chicken is tender.

Uncle Guy, a satisfied customer who came back for seconds.

FYI - Best. Cookies. Ever. (Buy them here at World Market). I wish I could un-learn of their existence.