Chili Verde

Something unusual happened today. I walked into the Key Foods across the street, strolled into their produce section, and came across some fine-looking jalapenos. I know to some of you, that doesn't sound all that impressive. But considering that the average pepper that comes out of that train wreck of a supermarket looks like a Martian's scrotum, I was pretty excited. I picked up a bunch of them and scurried home, post-haste.

But what to do with these things? I rolled around ideas while snagging all the layabout vegetation I had stocked up. All together, they painted a pretty picture.


As I disassembled them, my thoughts turned to my buddy Paul, and how he had made a chicken chili earlier in the week. Now, I've made chili. I've made a lot of chili in my day. But for some reason, I had never gotten around to making a chicken chili. In fact, I didn't really know how to make a chicken chili. Luckily, the old chili principle still held - throw a bunch of stuff into a pot and let it simmer. The veggies went on the stovetop:


And I popped across the street once more to snag a can of beans and some chicken broth. The thought had occurred to use beer instead of broth, but I figured I'd play it a little closer to the book the first time around. Non-veggie team, assemble!


The rest of the process really wasn't that complicated. I spiced the vegetation, stirred in the broth, and let it simmer for half an hour while I diced and browned the chicken. Once the veggies were nice and soft, a run in the blender with a wad of parsley left me with a lovely, vibrantly green and just-thick-enough chili base.


Then came the stir-ins.

chickenchickenchicken


beansbeansbeans


Back to the stove for another half an hour, just to get the flavors to meld, and the chili was ready to eat.


Mmm. A wad of shredded Muenster and a couple of tortilla chips. That's how chili is done. Chalk another recipe up for mental storage; this one's a keeper. Maybe next time, a box of corn should get thrown in there, too...