Creamy White Chili

This is a family favorite at our house on a cold winter's evening.

I know there are lots of recipes around for white chili but I always come back to this recipe. This chili has a pleasing creaminess to it and just the right amount of spiciness. I have never made less than a double batch. This is a real crowd pleaser.

Creamy White Chili adapted from “Taste of Home”

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into ½ ” cubes

1 medium onion, chopped

1 ½ teaspoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

3 - 15 ½ oz cans great northern beans, rinsed and drained

1 - 14 ½ oz can chicken broth

2 - 4 oz cans chopped green chilies

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon black pepper

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 c (8 oz) sour cream

½ c whipping cream

In a large dutch oven, sauté chicken, onion and garlic powder in oil until chicken is no longer pink. Add beans, broth, chilies and seasonings. Bring to a boil . Reduce heat; simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. If not serving right away I recommend stopping at this point. When you are ready to serve bring back to correct temperature and remove from the heat; stir in sour cream and whipping cream. Take care not to overheat or bring to a boil when reheating so that the dairy does not curdle. Serve immediately. Yield: 7 servings

We like this topped with some shredded cheddar cheese and served with tortilla chips.

I have increased the beans from the original recipe as it was a little brothier that I felt a chili should be. This is excellent if you have the time to cook your own dried beans; 1 1/2 c cooked beans equals one can (15 1/2 oz) of beans. The bean broth also adds a wonderful flavor to the chili if you wish to use it. When using broth from the beans, I use chicken boullion or chicken base in place of the chicken broth. Add additional chicken broth only if needed to get to the desired thickness for your tastes. Don't forget that the cream is going to thin it down a bit.

This is an easy weeknight or make ahead meal using canned or precooked beans and the frozen chicken bits to get you started. This freezes well. Enjoy!

I'm glad you're here, pull up a chair and sit a spell.

Mountain Belle

Frozen Chicken Bits

What the heck is that? Kind of scary looking isn’t it? Meet frozen diced uncooked chicken.

Have you ever found yourself standing in the kitchen wondering what you were going to fix for dinner? You’re wondering because you forgot to get anything out to defrost or it’s still frozen! Quite often I think it’s going to be just Himself and I and then the “ravaging teens” return and I'm scrambling to come up with another plan. Have you ever thrown a block of frozen hamburger in the skillet and hoped you could get it thawed and cooked before your family became hostile? Or the frozen chicken breasts that ended up too done on the outside if you got the center cooked through? Oh yea, been there and done that one! This post is about a great time saving tip in the kitchen.

Well, my friends this is our way to some fast and quick meals. It’s diced, frozen uncooked boneless chicken. I can find diced cooked chicken in the stores but I can’t find uncooked diced chicken and sometimes that’s exactly what I want. This is also a lot cheaper than the precooked chicken and lets you take advantage of sales and stock up. I have quite a few recipes that I can make at warped speed with this convenience from my freezer. I’ll be posting on some of those but I bet you have a few yourself. When in a bind for time I start with this in the frozen state and because I have diced it into small chunks before freezing it is almost impossible for the chicken to not be cooked through when I have the rest of the dish completed. I call them frozen chicken bits.

I actually watch for the chicken sales to stock up on what I need for this tip. I have also used turkey to do the same thing. Around the different holidays you can catch some wonderful deals on turkeys and turkey breasts. More often than not I will by the bone in breasts or thighs and debone and skin them myself; the leftover bones make a wonderful additional to my chicken stock fixings. This time I happened to find a great deal on some boneless chicken breasts. Then one weekend day I loaded up and started chopping. The end result was the wonderful shortcut to tasty, quick meal.

I know pictures of naked, raw chicken is not the most fun thing to look at but that’s what this post is all about. Trust me, this will be a major kitchen time saver. let's get started.

I know, not very exciting but it’s going to be well worth it.

Step #1: Find a cookie sheet or pan of your preference to spread the chicken out on. Next, take this EMPTY pan to your freezer and make sure you’re going to have a flat place to lay it while your chicken freezes. Trust me, standing in front of a freezer with a tray already full of chicken and not finding a flat surface to put the pan is very frustrating. I’ve learned this the hard way so hopefully this won’t happen to you.

I find a very light spitz of cooking spray on your pan makes it easier to remove the chicken after it’s frozen. So go ahead and prep your pan so it’s ready to go.

Step #2: Wash your chicken off thoroughly. I bought a large quantity on sale so I worked in small batches so I didn’t have all my chicken sitting out of the refrigerator for a very long time. After washing your chicken, remove skin and bones if you’re using that type, if just using boneless then trim off any fat. Now you’re ready to start dicing. Boneless chicken can be slick, so watch your fingers. Lay a piece on your cutting board and start dicing into small chunks. We want these to be able to cook fast so go for the size of a nickel and no larger than a quarter. I know a wooden cutting board looks nice and makes great pictures but I NEVER cut meat, especially raw meat, on a wooden cutting board. Wood cutting boards cannot not be sanitized after cutting raw meat to suit me and the one above can be sanitized in the dishwasher. Works for me, I like easy.

Step #3: Now it’s time to put the chicken on your pan. We’re going to flash freeze it then bag it up. Spread the chicken out on the pan, you don’t want to crowd the pieces. You want them to freeze individually, if there is a little bit of touching they will break apart after freezing. You may have to do this in batches or if you have freezer room then do several pans at a time. This is what your pan should look like:

Step #4: Now into the freezer with the chicken. Times will vary slightly but start checking after 30 minutes and may take up to an hour. Do not forget about your chicken and leave it overnight or you will end up with freezer burnt chicken. After chicken is frozen, remove from freezer and take a large cake turner and scoop the chicken loose and pop into a freezer bag. Don’t forget to label and date the bag before putting the chicken into it, lots easier that way. Please label and date your chicken. I know, “you won’t forget” but somehow that always seems to happen when something get pushed to the back and we wonder what that mystery package is. Please label! I put mine in gallon bags and just take out what I need. You should end up with something like this:

Now we have the makings of some wonderful quick meals. You can use what you need when you need it, from cooking for one to cooking for a family. Quick, easy and great! I’ll be posting recipes that this chicken can be featured in. I hope you enjoy.

I'm glad you're here, pull up a chair and sit a spell.

Mountain Belle