Sunday evening as I was cheffing an Oscars Party, my mom texted to say, “I know you’re overwhelmingly swamped, but I need your help.” She is cooking for her book club and wanted to make my White Chicken Chili recipe. It USED to be on my “old” blog. When my blog got migrated over to WordPress, many of my original posts, and ALL of the pictures from the old blog, disappeared. How sad.

Luckily, I found a copy of the blog in my files. I’ve had several friends ask me for the recipe again, but haven’t made the time to repost it. I’m in the process of raising 3 kids, and every step of this parenting business has given me more and more respect and admiration for my own parents.

Mom, here is the recipe! I know your book club will LOVE it. It’s perfect for that snowy, cold weather you’re having in Kentucky. I LOVE YOU!

One day soon I’ll learn how to make those cute recipe boxes with the little print icon to make printing out recipes from here easier….one day! If you’re reading this and you know how to do that, live in San Antonio, and like to eat, text me and we’ll barter. 🙂

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT HANDLING PEPPERS: I would encourage you to use disposable gloves while working with poblano and jalapeño peppers. The oils in the peppers can irritate your skin. Do NOT touch your eyes, or any other sensitive area of your body while working with peppers. Removing contact lenses within 24 hours of working with hot peppers and bare hands is a really terrible experience. Believe me!

Roasted Poblano Pepper, Chicken, White Bean Chili and Jalapeño Cornbread makes about 8 servings

Ingredients:

• 3 poblano peppers
• Olive Oil
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 stocks of celery, chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled & chopped
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 2 teaspoons Salt-free Seasoning Blend (such as Mrs. Dash, or my current favorite: Badia Sazon Completa)
• 32 oz box of chicken stock or chicken broth
• 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
• 2 cans (15 oz) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained (You can use any white beans, or a combination of white beans, such as: garbanzo, navy, great Northern, or hominy)
• 4 cups shredded cooked chicken
• 1 cup corn kernels (either frozen or fresh)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• avocado slices
• lime wedges
• corn tortilla chips or cornbread

DIRECTIONS:

•  Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
• Line a baking pan with foil. Wash and dry the poblano peppers. Rub the poblano peppers with olive oil and place them on the foil lined baking sheet. Roast the poblano peppers at 500 degrees for 15 minutes, turning several times. Remove the peppers from the oven. Once they are cool enough to handle, peel the waxy layer off the peppers, slice them in half and remove the seeds. Chop the poblano peppers and set them aside.
• Heat 2 T olive oil in a large heavy saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. (**LOVE my Dutch oven!**) Add onion. Reduce heat to low and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add garlic, celery and carrots. Cook another 5 minutes. Stir in chili powder, sea salt, cumin, and salt-free blend (such as Mrs. Dash Original Blend or Badia Sazon Completa). Add chopped roasted poblano peppers. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 2 minutes.
• Add chicken stock and tomatoes. Bring to a low boil and then reduce heat to low. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add beans. Using an immersion blender, puree the vegetables and beans. (If you don’t have an immersion blender, ask for one for Christmas or your birthday. Well, maybe you don’t really want an immersion blender on your gift list, but seriously…I asked for one this past Christmas, received it and I LOVE IT! I use it ALL the time. You can blend hot things in the pot, hide vegetables from your kids by mashing them all up into a thickening agent and it is super easy to clean. Transferring things to the blender is a hassle and if the liquid is hot when you push the “mix” button on your blender, IT WILL EXPLODE!! If you don’t have an immersion blender, I would puree the beans with some of the veggies and stock in a food processor or blender. Or, just leave them whole and enjoy seeing all the wonderful vegetables and beans in their whole state.
• Add shredded chicken and corn. Cook about 10 minutes until chicken and corn are hot, stirring occasionally.
• Stir in cilantro. Squeeze fresh lime into chili.
• Ladle into individual bowls. Top with shredded Monterey Jack Jalapeño cheese and avocado slices. Serve with Jalapeño Corn Bread or corn chips.

Jalapeño Cornbread 

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cup cornmeal
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten with a fork
• 1 cup buttermilk (or regular milk)
• ¼ cup oil (olive, vegetable or canola)
• 1-3 jalapenos, seeded and chopped (or canned jalapenos if that’s what you have)
• ½ – 1 cup corn kernels, frozen and defrosted or fresh
• ½ – 1 cup shredded Monterey jack with jalapeno cheese, Monterey jack cheese, cheddar cheese, or a blend
• 4 T butter

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Melt butter in a cast iron skillet over low heat on the stove. Once the butter is melted, turn off heat and set pan aside. (If you don’t have a cast iron skillet, you can butter muffin tins or use cooking spray to coat muffin tins.)
• In a mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients and set aside.
• In another mixing bowl, whisk together all wet ingredients (egg, milk & oil).
• Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Stir in corn, jalapeños and cheese.
• Pour combined ingredients into cast iron skillet coated with the melted butter. Place in preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Slice into wedges. Serve with more butter if desired.

(NOTE: when I’m in a big hurry, I used a good quality box cornbread mix and just dump in cheese – monterey, jack, colby, cheddar, etc, and a can of green chilies in addition to the listed ingredients. I very often make these into muffins instead of bread wedges.)