Tasting Spoons

I wrote up this post before we left on our trip in September, and I’ve posted a bunch of stories in the interim. No matter, read on . . . I kid you not, folks. I am in l-o-v-e with Penzey’s Soup Bases. You just won’t believe how flavorful your soups and stews will be when you add just a bit of this to them. And I seem to be riding on the tails of the successful chicken posole I made last a few weeks ago. I must not have made enough of that - I’m craving more. So . . . since I was making dinner for us to take to our local kids and grandson, and decided it was cool enough yesterday (in the 70’s) that it felt almost, sorta, kinda like Fall,  chili and cornbread sounded like the ticket to me. I didn’t want to go buy stuff at the grocery store. Sure enough, I had everything to make this chili.

Researching, I read a recipe on the Food Network (from Ina Garten’s section) and used it as a kind of guideline. This particular version doesn’t have any beans in it, but you could certainly add them. I might add a can of kidney beans, just to give it some dramatic color. It has a bunch of corn in it (I had a plastic bag of Trader Joe’s fire-roasted corn in the freezer) so probably doesn’t need beans.

Frozen chicken breasts I had, canned tomatoes (yep), red bell peppers (yep, two left in the crisper) and onions. Everything else was just icing on the cake – yep, had some cheddar cheese, a little container of sour cream, and some about-to-be-stale tortilla chips. Hooray. No trip to the grocery store!

The chili came together very quickly – really. I made it my own with omission of a few things (basil, yellow bells, cayenne). I had some cute little chile peppers from our garden (the four-legged squirrel and ground critters don’t like chiles, I’ve learned - hooray). They weren’t jalapenos, but something close, so the recipe below indicates jalapenos. You can use your chiles of choice for the heat you’d prefer! And I added my Penzey’s turkey stock concentrate and some chipotle chile in adobo sauce, plus some ancho chili powder. And the corn. Garnishes can be of your own choosing. I used grated cheddar, sour cream, tortilla chips and cilantro. Green onions? Fritos? Jack cheese? Yogurt instead of sour cream? Lots of choices here.

Chicken Chili
Recipe: Inspired by a recipe on the Food Network
Servings: 6 (a guess)
2 medium onions — peeled, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic — minced
1 1/2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 whole jalapeno chile pepper — or more if you’d like more heat
2 whole red bell pepper — seeded, chopped
4 cups water
1 1/2 teaspoons Penzey’s turkey soup base — or chicken dry granules
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
1 tablespoon chipotle chile canned in adobo — minced, or more to taste (hot)
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon ancho chile powder — (adds flavor, no heat)
3 cups Trader Joe’s fire-roasted corn — or canned or frozen
2 pounds canned tomatoes
3 pieces chicken breast halves — boned, skinned, cubed (raw)
3 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup heavy cream — optional
GARNISHES: (optional)
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
8 tablespoons sour cream
1 cup tortilla chips — crushed
1/2 cup cilantro — minced
1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot and add the cubed onion. Sauté, stirring frequently, until it’s turned nearly translucent.
2. Meanwhile, chop up the red bell peppers and add to the onions, continuing to stir frequently for about 2 more minutes.
3. Add the minced garlic and cook for one minute only. Add the water and bring the pan up to a boil.
4. Add the cumin, the turkey or chicken soup base, the chipotle chile, salt and chili and ancho chile powders. Bring up to a boil and add the corn.
5. Place half of the canned tomatoes in the jar of a blender and puree until smooth. Add both tomatoes to the pot and bring up to a simmer, then reduce heat and allow to bubble gently for about 5 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, chop up the chicken into small pieces and place in a bowl. Add the flour to the chicken and stir until the flour has all adhered to the chicken. Gently add it to the pot and allow the mixture to simmer until the chicken is fully cooked, about 5-10 minutes. Taste for seasonings.
7. If desired, add the heavy cream and stir. If time permits, allow to cool, and reheat when ready to serve.

Per Serving (includes consuming all the garnishes): 634 Calories; 40g Fat (55.6% calories from fat); 27g Protein; 45g Carbohydrate; 7g Dietary Fiber; 102mg Cholesterol; 1275mg Sodium.
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