White Bean and Chicken Chili

I'm trying to stretch the food that I have left in the house until payday (grocery day) on Friday. With that in mind, I took a package of chicken breasts out of the freezer and began to contemplate what to do with them.

After rummaging in my pantry, I decided I'd concoct a "white" chili of sorts. It's a little bit Mexican and definitely belly filling. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2-3 large boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into large chunks
(2) 15 oz cans white kidney (cannellini) beans, drained and rinsed
2 large Vidalia Onions, chopped
4-5 large cloves of garlic
3-3.5 cups chicken stock
2 limes, juiced
1 TBSP Olive Oil
1 stick unsalted butter
(1) 8 oz bar sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 c sour cream
1/3 c AP Flour
Spices and Seasonings: (To taste. The amounts I used are a rough estimate based on my family's likes)

1 TBSP Chili Powder
1 TBSP Cumin
4-5 dashes Hot Sauce (like Tabasco)
Salt
Black Pepper
1/4 cup Fresh Cilantro, chopped finely

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. On a cookie sheet lined with foil (for easy clean up) place your Poblano pepper and garlic cloves. Roast in the oven for about 30 minutes.

While your pepper and garlic are roasting, drizzle about 1 TBSP of Olive Oil and add 1 TBSP of butter to a 6 qt pot and heat on medium.

Season your chicken pieces well with some of the chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper then place it in your pot.

Cook until nicely browned on all sides, about 6-8 minutes. Remove the chicken and set aside to cool.

Next, add another 2 TBSP of butter directly into the pot you just cooked the chicken in and once it's melted, add the onions. Cook until they are soft and begin to caramelize slightly, about 5 minutes.

Add the remaining butter into the pot with the onions and when it is melted, sprinkle in the flour to create a roux. Whisk the butter/flour/onion combination constantly for 2-3 minutes then add the chicken stock and lime juice, continuing to stir. It should create a thick, bubbly base for your chili.

Once the base is ready, slide it off the burner while you get your pepper and garlic from the oven. While the veggies cool, use your hands and shred up the now cooled chicken into bite size pieces.

When the pepper is cool enough to handle, gently peel off the skin and discard.

Chop the pepper, removing seeds and stem and add it to your chili base. Next, squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skins directly into the pot. Add the hot sauce, remaining chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper. Whisk all the ingredients together.

Next add the chicken and beans to the pot and then the shredded cheese. Whisk gently until the cheese is melted and fully incorporated.

Simmer over low heat for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat and cool slightly, which will allow the chili to thicken up a bit more. Whisk in the sour cream and cilantro, serve with tortilla chips.

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