Spicy Chicken Chili With No Beans Recipe.
Baby, it's very cold out.
Actually... This morning when I woke in here in Boston, it was warmer (at the time) here than in Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Diego. That arctic chill is creeping all the way down the country - and it's not even actually Winter yet!
BOO!
Knowing how chilly it was elsewhere, I decided that I was in the mood for chili. However, I am a huge picky person when it comes to chili. I think pretty much every recipe out there is subpar.
(Feel free to call me a "bitch.")
See... I am a particular person when it comes to the texture of foods. It's one of the reasons most shell fish and sushi skeeves me out. I don't like huge chunks of soggy tomatoes, peppers or beans in my chili. However, I LOVE the flavor of tomatoes and peppers.
"Why can't there be a no bean, super spicy chicken chili recipe online that I can use?" I moaned.
So I decided I would just have to down a glass of Pinot Noir (my "liquid creative inspiration") and create one myself.
Ingredients:
Directions for Chicken Poaching
Cooking the chicken is important before putting it into the chili. A lot of recipes call for "bone-in, skin-on roasted chicken breasts." But have you ever tried to pull apart the meat from a bone-in chicken breast that you've roasted? OUCH! You have to let it rest a good while before taking the meat off of the bone. Poaching provides flavor, makes the meat tendered, and cooks quickly.
To poach, take a deep pot and put the water and chicken stock in it. Heat over medium-high heat. Pour the chicken breasts into the pot.
Let the chicken boil for about 30 minutes. Remove from pot, and let rest for about 10 minutes. Then shred into pieces. I cut mine up as well as shredded with a fork.
Directions for Roasting the Veggies
The base of the "sauce" in the chili is a "roasted veggie soup."
One of the easiest, most efficient, healthiest clean meals you can eat is roasted veggie soup. You simply roast veggies, then run them through a food mill to puree them. (You could also use an immersion blender or regular blender.)
You simply take the chopped tomatoes and peppers... And put them in a bowl with 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, tossing and coating them. Then you throw them on a baking sheet with the salt and pepper sprinkled all over them...
And allow them to roast at 400 degree Fahrenheit for about 45 minutes. Once they are done roasting, pull out and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Then prep your food mill.
I use the "smallest holes" disk on my food mill. I simply drop the veggies into the food mill bowl in batches, and begin cranking. Eventually, you end up with a tomato-pepper soup puree. You can add a little bit of stock to the veggies if you want things a little more 'juicy." But the veggies themselves should be juicy enough.
Directions for Epic Chili Assembly:
About halfway through the veggie roasting and chicken poaching (which I had going at the same time), I thought to myself, "BEER! And BACON!" Two perfect things for chili. So I ran downstairs to the store at the bottom of my walk-up here in the South End and got them...'
I went with a Kentucky Bourbon-based beer and some Vermont Maple-Cured Bacon. I cracked open a beer and proceeded to top off the Pinor Noir buzz with a beer buzz. (And I don't typically like beer. Which is why I had to drink it out of a William Yeoward wine glass.)
Yum.... But on to the chili making!!!
In the bottom of a deep pot, layer the bacon and then the onion. Allow this to cook over medium-high heat for about five minutes. Things shouldn't be too greasy... Causing you to have to render the fat. (Meaning, pull out the bacon and onion, dump onto a paper towel to grease. Then add the bacon and onion back to the pot.) Next, add the spices and garlic to the pot. Allow to cook for about a minute.
Next, add the whole bottle of beer. (And make sure you're drinking one at the same time. It really tastes delicious.) Allow this to foam up and cook for about three minutes. Then add the tomato-pepper puree, and another teaspoon of kosher salt.
Bring all of this to a boil, then turn down the heat to low and allow to simmer for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, add the chicken to the pot.
Allow to simmer for another 20 minutes.
Serve with any of the following:
Enjoy!
Actually... This morning when I woke in here in Boston, it was warmer (at the time) here than in Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Diego. That arctic chill is creeping all the way down the country - and it's not even actually Winter yet!
BOO!
Knowing how chilly it was elsewhere, I decided that I was in the mood for chili. However, I am a huge picky person when it comes to chili. I think pretty much every recipe out there is subpar.
(Feel free to call me a "bitch.")
See... I am a particular person when it comes to the texture of foods. It's one of the reasons most shell fish and sushi skeeves me out. I don't like huge chunks of soggy tomatoes, peppers or beans in my chili. However, I LOVE the flavor of tomatoes and peppers.
"Why can't there be a no bean, super spicy chicken chili recipe online that I can use?" I moaned.
So I decided I would just have to down a glass of Pinot Noir (my "liquid creative inspiration") and create one myself.
Ingredients:
- 12 Roma Tomatoes, Chopped in Half
- 2 Yellow Bell Peppers, Seeded & Chopped Into Big Chunks
- 2 Red Bell Peppers, Seeded & Chopped Into Big Chunks
- 1 Yellow Onion, Chopped
- 8 Cloves of Garlic, Minced
- 1/2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
- 1 tsp Cumin
- 1 tsp Cayenne Pepper
- 4 cups Chicken Stock
- 1 cup of Water
- 3 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 tsp of kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 5 Slices of Bacon, Sliced
- 2 Pounds Boneless/Skinless Chicken Breasts
Directions for Chicken Poaching
Cooking the chicken is important before putting it into the chili. A lot of recipes call for "bone-in, skin-on roasted chicken breasts." But have you ever tried to pull apart the meat from a bone-in chicken breast that you've roasted? OUCH! You have to let it rest a good while before taking the meat off of the bone. Poaching provides flavor, makes the meat tendered, and cooks quickly.
To poach, take a deep pot and put the water and chicken stock in it. Heat over medium-high heat. Pour the chicken breasts into the pot.
Let the chicken boil for about 30 minutes. Remove from pot, and let rest for about 10 minutes. Then shred into pieces. I cut mine up as well as shredded with a fork.
Directions for Roasting the Veggies
The base of the "sauce" in the chili is a "roasted veggie soup."
One of the easiest, most efficient, healthiest clean meals you can eat is roasted veggie soup. You simply roast veggies, then run them through a food mill to puree them. (You could also use an immersion blender or regular blender.)
You simply take the chopped tomatoes and peppers... And put them in a bowl with 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, tossing and coating them. Then you throw them on a baking sheet with the salt and pepper sprinkled all over them...
And allow them to roast at 400 degree Fahrenheit for about 45 minutes. Once they are done roasting, pull out and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Then prep your food mill.
I use the "smallest holes" disk on my food mill. I simply drop the veggies into the food mill bowl in batches, and begin cranking. Eventually, you end up with a tomato-pepper soup puree. You can add a little bit of stock to the veggies if you want things a little more 'juicy." But the veggies themselves should be juicy enough.
Directions for Epic Chili Assembly:
About halfway through the veggie roasting and chicken poaching (which I had going at the same time), I thought to myself, "BEER! And BACON!" Two perfect things for chili. So I ran downstairs to the store at the bottom of my walk-up here in the South End and got them...'
I went with a Kentucky Bourbon-based beer and some Vermont Maple-Cured Bacon. I cracked open a beer and proceeded to top off the Pinor Noir buzz with a beer buzz. (And I don't typically like beer. Which is why I had to drink it out of a William Yeoward wine glass.)
Yum.... But on to the chili making!!!
In the bottom of a deep pot, layer the bacon and then the onion. Allow this to cook over medium-high heat for about five minutes. Things shouldn't be too greasy... Causing you to have to render the fat. (Meaning, pull out the bacon and onion, dump onto a paper towel to grease. Then add the bacon and onion back to the pot.) Next, add the spices and garlic to the pot. Allow to cook for about a minute.
Next, add the whole bottle of beer. (And make sure you're drinking one at the same time. It really tastes delicious.) Allow this to foam up and cook for about three minutes. Then add the tomato-pepper puree, and another teaspoon of kosher salt.
Bring all of this to a boil, then turn down the heat to low and allow to simmer for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, add the chicken to the pot.
Allow to simmer for another 20 minutes.
Serve with any of the following:
- Cheese
- Avocado
- Tortilla Chips
- Crackers
- Rice
- Sour Cream (YUCK! But most people seem to like it.)
Enjoy!
Comments
You can totally omit the beer. I only added it last second. And only because the 570 Market (which is at the base of my building) had it.
I use my food mill (which cost me about $65 at Sur La Table) probably twice a month. It gets used more often in Fall and Winter because I love making roasted veggies... And then turning them into soups. So simple. And it's clean eating.