Hello, there!
Today brought the glorious joy of temperatures above 45 degrees, which pretty much feels like summer these days. Seriously, I saw people walking to class in shorts and flip-flops. But of course, with any warm day in winter comes some sort of precipitation and drastic temperature dives.
So now it’s a bit of a rainy evening here in the Bluegrass, which is perfect for sitting inside and watching UK basketball. Well, Eric is watching UK basketball. I’m mostly making lame jokes about the players and pretending to do my homework. But either way, it’s a good night for eating warm, hearty comfort food. I’ve been experimenting with lots of different chili recipes this season, as I am now the proud owner of a slow cooker, which makes chili preparation super easy.
I went a different direction with tonight’s chili though. It’s a bit labor intensive, but it was seriously delicious and worth the effort. No crock pot was necessary for this one. Just a baking sheet, a skillet, and a soup pot. And some knife skills. So for all of you readers looking for a good meal to feed lots of people once, or just one person lots, this is the recipe for you.
Chicken Chili
adapted from Martha Stewart Living magazine
10 plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise (I think I used 8 or 9)
1 jalapeno pepper, halved
1 white onion, peeled and halved
4 garlic cloves, peeled
2 tablespoons EVOO
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (I used 1.5 pounds, I believe)
1/4 cup chili powder
salt
2 canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, finely chopped (I found these in the grocery aisle with the salsa)
1 3/4 cups low-sodium chicken stock
1 can (15 ounces) kidney beans, drained
1. Preheat broiler. Arrange tomatoes, jalapeno, onion, and garlic, cut side down, on a rimmed baking sheet. Broil until veggies start to char, about 5 minutes. (This took me about 10 minutes, but I think I didn’t have my pan close enough to the broiler.)
2. Pulse tomatoes and jalapeno in a blender or a food processor until chunky. Chop onion and mince garlic.
3. Heat a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil. Working in batches, brown chicken in a single layer, allowing to sear before stirring. (I just cooked all the chicken at once and stirred it all around.) Transfer cooked chicken to a plate.
4. Reduce skillet heat to medium. Add onion and garlic to skillet. Cook until soft and golden.
5. Transfer onion and garlic to a soup pot and cook over medium heat. Add chili powder and 2 teaspoons salt. Stir in chipotles and chicken. Raise heat to high and add tomato-jalapeno mixture. Stir in chicken stock. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add beans and simmer for 10 minutes.
This chili was seriously scrumptious and filling. Eric and I were both full after one bowl, but went back for seconds because it was so good! I’d recommend serving it with some shredded cheese and Ritz crackers sprinkled on top. I have a feeling that if you were feeling experimental, you could throw all this stuff in a crock pot in the morning and let it heat up all day for a tasty dinner. Hope you enjoy this rainy night!
-Ally
*Please pardon my poor photography, but it’s hard to get good lighting these days, as the sun no longer shines bright on my old Kentucky home.
Leave a Reply