White Chili Kind of Night

A little nip in the air and those of us in the south declare it is cold enough for soup, stew and chili, and yes, we know that some of you laugh at what we think is nippy weather. Conversely we scoff at you when you come to visit us in the summer and gripe because heat with high humidity is a tad unpleasant. We know to wear our hair pulled back and to wear light colored cotton clothes with flip flops, and just grin and bear it while we drinking iced tea by the gallon.

The past weekend we had temps dip into the high 30's which we call winter temps here, so naturally I had to whip up something hot to keep us from freezing to death. (Because I have a hard and fast rule about no heat until November. I prefer December 1, but I will concede to firing up the furnace November 15 if it is below freezing, which is just not going to happen.)

Since I am the chief cook and bottle washer, I get to decide what kind of dinner we are going to have, though I will honor a special request if you give me enough lead time with the requesting. TheHub mentioned he might like chili but I had chicken in the refrigerator that needed to be cooked. I had also cooked a package of great northern beans the day before and had them ready and waiting so the dinner decision made itself. Though I cooked everything from scratch, I am using standard size cans as my measure.

1 large skinned boneless chicken breast (or 2 small ones) cooked and cut into strips or cubes. (I prefer strips but that is my personal esthetic)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1/2 bell pepper diced (again I cut mine in strips because i like a bigger bite of pepper)
1 small can diced chili peppers, drained (I seeded and minced 3 chili peppers)
1 jalapeno, seeded, ribbed and minced
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon cayenne
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon salt (I always under salt cause I don't like salty dishes. you might need more)
1 tablespoon chili powder (You should use white chili powder but I am not a stickler for appearance so I use regular. It does not turn the chili red)
2 cans drained great northern beans
32 ounces chicken broth

Chop cooked chicken and set aside. In a dutch oven or large stewing post saute' the peppers, onion, and garlic until they are soft but not brown.  Add the chicken and the spices and stir well to coat the chicken. Add the beans and the broth and bring the mixture to a boil. Cover the pan and turn the heat to a simmer. Let the chili cook slowly for about 30 minutes. Ladle into bowl and enjoy. I like mine with a sprinkling of chopped cilantro and a tad of grated jack cheese. I had neither so we ate it plain and it was still remarkably good.

And of course as I am typing this post it is 82 degrees. I guess tonight will be a salad dinner! Sheesh! No weather consistency!