This is an original recipe of mine that I've been working on for years, a chili recipe that started out as a spicy and pungent basic vegetarian chili that mutated over time into the spicy-sweet chicken chili it is today. Don't be afraid of the habanero pepper the recipe calls for: some people will consider it a bit hot for their tastes but it's more of a subtle and cumulative creeper than anything that will summon the local fire marshal — consider it more a brush fire than a forest fire, nothing a little guacamole or horchata couldn't cure.
Today's Specimen
I did something different, something which threw me for a loop, and that was instead of cooking the chili in a pot I decided to inaugurate the crock pot a neighbor gave to me. I quickly found out that you can't really reduce things down in a crock pot because either the liquid doesn't evaporate away when the cover is on it or it does so very slowly when the lid is removed because the escaping heat causes the cooking temperature to drop below simmering. As such, today's post will feature the stovetop-cooked version.
- 1 15 oz. can black beans
- 2 15 oz. cans kidney beans
- 2 medium chicken breast fillets, cubed
- 1 cup tomatoes, peeled and diced
- 1 cup whole kernel corn
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 4 large cloves garlic, minced
- 1 large habanero pepper, minced
- 1 avocado, peeled and pitted and sliced
- 1 8 oz. can tomato paste
- 1 tbsp. canola or olive oil
- ½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1 tbsp. chili powder
- ½ tbsp. cumin
- 1 tsp. oregano
- ½ tsp. nutmeg
- ½ tsp. black pepper
- 2 tsp. cane sugar
- ¼ tsp. salt
Directions
- Cook the chicken in a medium soup pot (over three quarts capacity) on medium heat with a little bit of oil to prevent the chicken from sticking to the bottom. When fully cooked remove and cut into 1 - 1½ inch cubes and set aside.
- In the bottom of the pot cook the onion, peppers, and garlic on medium heat until the onion is slightly translucent and the garlic begins to brown. Add up to a tablespoon of more oil if needed.
- Add the beans, the corn, and tomatoes with the juice from the cans; the chicken; then cover the mixture with water until it's submerged by about one inch. Then add the tomato paste and spices and stir until the tomato paste is evenly distributed in the mixture.
- Bring the temperature up to high until the chili starts to simmer, then drop the temperature to low and leave the chili simmering until it reaches the consistency of a thick stew, stirring occasionally. Then cover and let the chili simmer for another hour before serving.
- Serve with shredded cheddar cheese and cilantro on top and avocado slices stuck into the chili on one side of the bowl.
Next Time in the Lab
Not bad, but it turned out to be a little too sweet and not quite spicy enough for me, lacking somewhat the rich pungent flavor that makes a good chili taste less like a bad goulash. Here's what I'm going to do differently next time:
- Use 3 medium chicken breast fillets
- Use 1½ to maybe 2 cups diced whole tomatoes
- Add 1 to maybe 1½ cups thinly sliced carrot
- Use 2 tbsp. chili powder and 1 tbsp. cumin
- Use 2 tsp. oregano
- Add 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
- Don't bother adding any sugar
