I caught wind yesterday that my mother in law was cooking a white chili for dinner. Never heard of this but was interested to know what the base components were in this dish; cheese, cream, cream cheese, etc to make it a “White” chili? I was already set to cook something with chicken last night so I googled White Chili and found a couple recipes www.foodnetwork.com Turns out that White Beans are the core component and thickening agent for a White Chili. Both recipes called for standard base soup components: onions, garlic, herbs, spices, and a stock or broth, but then they both went in their own directions from there. I picked the one with simplicity since this would be my first run at it. When I do recipe research, I never intend to follow it to the T, but more so get my bearings straight on where this dish is going, what the flavor components are, important parts of the recipe, and then I just use my skills, palate, and instincts to make my recipe version of the dish. Beyond the onion, garlic, and stock, it didn’t have that much more to the recipe; just cumin, chili powder, ground coriander, roasted chicken, white beans, cilantro, and fresh lime juice.

Being that this was a ridiculously easy recipe to execute and long cooking methods not required, there were only a few key steps to maximize flavor and overall quality of the dish. The first was the roasting of the chicken. I am fortunate to have 2 Convection Ovens that have convection roast or convection bake settings. I heavily seasoned 2 chicken breasts with Kosher Salt, McCormick Grill Mates Chicken Rub, and Roasted Garlic Olive Oil. Then roasted them in on convection roast at 400 degrees for 25 minutes. These were boneless skinless breasts. The roasting of these helps the outside of the breasts brown nicely, intensify the flavor of the rub and salt while cooking, and releases these flavors once shredded and put into the chili. The other was smashing of about half the white beans after adding to the pot to help thicken up the chili. Below is a pic of the finished product in the pot. Want the recipe? Email me at kyle@rusticpalate.com