Ye Olde World According to Buchs

We hosted our Chili Cookoff yesterday. It was a modest crowd – 5 entries, 9 attendees. I was very happy with the variety of chili made – one vegetarian, one beef, one pork-mole, and two chicken. Each and every dish was unique, which is exactly what I was hoping for. And they were all delicious. Mine just happened to be more delicious than the rest.

Judy created a ballot for our tasters to fill out, which was broken up into four categories: Best Overall, Spiciest, Most Original, and Best Use of Noodles in a Supporting Role.

Unfortunately, none of our entries had noodles, although Jen K *had* noodles, but removed them before the contest.

Most Original was Jen C’s White Bean Chicken Chili, which was very mild and made with a cheese & cream sauce.

Spiciest wasn’t really a contest, Craig’s Pork Mole was full of chipotle peppers. An initial smokey flavor slowly burned into a hot fire.

Our entry (Judy was the one who initially found the recipe, and she did some of the chopping) was a Chicken Chili Verde. The original recipe follows, with my modifications after:

* 3 pounds skinless boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
* 5 tablespoons all purpose flour
* 7 tablespoons olive oil
* 3 cups chopped onions
* 3 tablespoons chopped garlic
* 1 1/2 cups chopped fresh Anaheim chilies* (about 4)
* 2 green bell peppers, cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick strips
* 5 cups frozen corn kernels, thawed
* 6 cups canned low-salt chicken broth
* 12 tomatillos, husked, coarsely chopped
* 2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano or 1 tablespoon dried
* 2 tablespoons chili powder
* 1 tablespoon ground cumin
* 1 teaspoon paprika
* 2 cinnamon sticks

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Coat with flour. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add half of chicken to skillet and sauté until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Transfer to large pot. Repeat with 1 tablespoon oil and remaining chicken.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in same skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic; sauté until onions are tender, about 5 minutes. Transfer to pot with chicken. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in same skillet over medium-high heat. Add Anaheim chilies and green bell peppers. Sauté until tender, about 4 minutes. Transfer to pot with chicken. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in same skillet. Sauté half of corn until tender, about 2 minutes. Transfer to pot with chicken. Repeat with remaining 1 tablespoon oil and corn.

Add chicken broth, tomatillos, oregano, chili powder, cumin, paprika and cinnamon sticks to pot. Bring liquid to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until mixture thickens and flavors blend, stirring occasionally, about 2 hours. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Refrigerate until cool. Cover and keep refrigerated. Rewarm over medium heat before continuing.)

Mix cilantro into chili. Transfer to large serving bowl. Garnish with tortilla chips and serve.

For our batch, we used slightly less chicken – maybe 2 to 2-1/2 pounds. I don’t like to cut up the chicken, and instead prefer to add the thighs whole to the broth and let them break apart.

We substituted a poblano and two jalapeno peppers for the green bell peppers, and they were also roasted first. [1]: light grill, get hot; [2] place peppers on grill; [3] play new golf game on your iphone for 40 minutes; [3] remove charred remains of peppers from grill, send wife out for more; [4] repeat, but reduce time to 5 minutes

A minor change was that we only used 1 tablespoon of a traditional chili powder and added 1 tablespoon of chipotle powder.

Finally, instead of a chicken broth, I used a homemade duck stock. And I let the whole thing go for a good 3-1/2 hours.