White Chili Recipe- "White Lightning" wins the 2011 Chili Cookoff!



2011 Champion- White Lightning

 Each year The Girlfriend and her friends have a Chili Cook Off.  This year I was lucky enough to be invited to enter a chili.  And guess what?  That's right!  The Polymouth's very own "White Lightning" won the 2011 Chili Cook Off!!!  Woo-hoo!  And along with it there is a killer trophy, which now will, as is customary, receive an addition of some sort before being put on the line again next fall.  There were 11 entries in all, and some very creative competition.  We had meaty chilies con carne, luscious vegetarian chilies, firery super spicy chilies, other wonderful white chilies, and another top contender was the delicious and exotic pumpkin chili. 

I've never really entered a cooking competition, even one as relaxed and friendly as this, so there were some butterflies and excitement that came along with entering.  Our entry was quite tasty, but it certainly wasn't easy.  Not that it was difficult, it just had several steps, and took most of the day to make.  As usual I had a general recipe in mind, but I was cooking "Iron-Style" and kept tweaking and adding ingredients up till the final moments before we left for the party.  There is no way to know exactly what the final recipe ended up being, but I will do my best to explain the process and steps that went into this tasty dish.

The real technique here is building flavor.  And the best way to do that is to create separate components that compliment each other and then blend them to allow the flavors to build on each other.  More on the development of the components later.  But what were the major flavors?

White Lightning was a white chili that comprised mostly of: Chicken, White Beans, Serrano Chilies, Sour Cream, Cilantro, and Lime.  As you would expect it had a very Mexican taste to it, so there was liberal use of common Mexican spices like Cumin and Dried Oregano.  And it was topped with Pepper Jack Cheese, and a Lime-Rock Salt crumble.

There were 4 separate elements that came together:
1) The Base- Beans and Broth
2) The Body- Sauteed Chicken and Gravy
3) Flavor Elements- Sauteed Onions and Peppers, Herbs and Spices, Sour Cream
4) Toppers- Shredded Pepper Jack, Cilantro, and Lime-Rock Salt

Lets go through these one by one.  Remember to season with a little salt and pepper as you go through each step.

First, The Base- Real easy, put 2 cans of white beans (I like to use cannellini beans for this), and a container of chicken broth in a slow cooker.  Just set it to low heat and set it aside.

Next, The Body-  Saute 2 lbs of bite size (1/2 to 1 inch cubes) boneless skinless chicken breast in a couple Tbsps. of olive oil.  You don't need to cook it all the way through, as it will finish cooking in the chili, but you do want a good sear to develop flavors.  Once the chicken is browned, we want to build a gravy, meaning we need a roux. 

A roux is basically equal parts fat and starch, and acts as a thickener in sauces, soups, and gravies.  Add more olive oil, incorporate a like amount of flour.  I like to use Wondra for this, it is a type of flour specifically designed for thickening.  The flour and oil should develop into a bit of a paste.  (remember this is going to be thickening the entire batch of Chili so make a good amount of the roux.) 

Once the roux has developed, we are going to deglaze the pan, which just means that we will add liquid to get all of the tasty bits of chicken that stuck to the pan off, and incorporated in to the gravy.  You can do this with water, that's ok.  You can do this with chicken broth, that will add great flavor.  But for this, and most gravies that I make, I use wine (about 1/4-1/2 cup).  In this case a delicious Oregon Chardonnay from Yamhill Valley Vineyards (keeping with the "white" theme).  Wine simply adds depth and complexity to flavor that is unmatched.  Use it when you have a chance.  I think this little secret is what pushed White Lightning over the top against such strong competition.

This is your chicken and gravy, you might be tempted to stop right here and just eat this alone (if you do so, I won't tell anyone, but make sure the chicken is cooked all the way through).  At this point I added about a cup of fresh chopped cilantro and green onion, and the zest and juice of a medium sized lime to the gravy, but you can add it directly to the slow cooker in the next step...

Third, Flavor Elements- Ok, beans, broth, and chicken breast can be real tasty, but we are a long way from having an award winning chili.  We need to add some layers of flavor.  This entails many ingredients, but don't be intimidated or discouraged, if you don't have something or you just don't like the flavor of something just go with out it.  We have a good base, and you can make your chili how ever you want it.  But here is what I did next,

Sweat in olive oil 4-6 cloves of garlic (diced), 2 medium sized onions (chopped 1/2 inch), and 4 Serrano chilies (diced).  Add salt to help extract moisture.  A splash of wine here as well will help the flavors grow.  Let the veggies caramelize and reduce.

While you are waiting for the veggies to soften it is a good time to employ the power of herbs and spices.  There are countless directions and ratios that you can go with from here.  So, flavor how you like, but these are estimates of what we ended up putting in the White Lightning: A tsp each Cumin, Dried Oregano, Chili Powder, 1/2 tsp hot sauce (we used Valentina's, but what ever you have in the cabinet will work), and if you didn't include the cilantro, green onion, and lime in the gravy add them now.

There are also a couple ancillary ingredients that help the dish pop.  Add about a handful of crushed tortilla chips (we actually used a coffee grinder to powder them), and a handful of shredded pepper jack cheese. 

Let all of those flavors meld and blend together, and add the veggies once they have softened and caramelized.

This should be pretty tasty and flavorful, but we aren't quite done.  If you look at it right now it will probably have a brownish color with some green from the herbs and peppers.  It certainly isn't a "white" chili.  Now is when we add the sour cream.  This too is a matter of taste, but I tend to think it is better to go too far than not far enough.  So get the big tub of sour cream when at the grocery store.  We are going to use scoops and not dollops.  Throw in a couple big scoops and see what happens as you mix each one in.  It should lighten with each additional scoop.  Flavor is the most important part, so taste as you go along.  Add chicken broth if moisture is needed.  Once you have a light creamy color, and it tastes good, walk away and let the slow cooker do its magic. 

We found that after a couple hours of slow cooking our chili was irreverently spicy, and while we both enjoy a little kick it was probably going to be too spicy for most people. We got creative at this point and needed to cut the heat back.  We added a little Masa Flour (the flour that tortillas are made from, but any flour should help cut the spice), Brown Sugar, and Honey.  While these aren't strictly a part of the recipe, they worked and added a subtle touch that was very nice.  This dish might not need them next time I make it, but they worked like a charm.

Finally, Toppers- While you're waiting for the slow cooker, make the lime-rock salt.  This is a very simple yet elegant addition.  Take about 2-3 tbsps or rock salt, and add the zest and juice of a small lime, simply mix together and let sit.  This is pretty powerful stuff so don't let anyone put too much on top, but a pinch adds a nice little crunch when added at the last moment.  Also have some shredded pepper jack cheese to melt over the top, and a couple leaves of chopped cilantro upon serving.  For service, ladle the chili, add the cheese, cilantro, and top with the rock salt.

It was an all day project, but it was very good.  And we were lucky enough to beat out some other mind-bendingly delicious chilies.  I can't wait for next year.  At least I have some time to figure out what to add to the trophy...

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