Green, No White, No Green Chili

 

Emily passed her prelim this past week (Yay Em!), in no small part to her charm, smarts, and husband who cooks a mean chili (yes, I'm being modest).  It's tradition for the candidate to provide food for the committee and attendees, and since hers was being held over lunch, I went all out.  Chili, cornbread, and double chocolate cookies were a hit with the academics.  Not that she needed help, but it never hurts to feed them well.  In fact, the main reason for me posting this recipe now is because one of the last questions during her exam was the recipe for this chili.

In blog news, hopefully I will get another post out this week, but I'm headed to New Orleans next week for AAPS.  I will make sure to take lots of pictures and eat a lot of oysters.

I still cannot decide if I want to call this chili green or white.  And neither wheen nor grite sound good, so this time I'm just choosing white.

Southwestern White Chili

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound ground turkey (at least 90/10)
1 onion, diced fine
4 cloves garlic, diced
2 chipotle peppers in their adobo sauce, diced
2 4-oz. cans diced green chiles

1 16-oz can tomatillos, drained and chopped

1 10-oz can green enchilada sauce

1 cup dry pearled barley
4 cups chicken stock (2 15-oz cans work)
1 15oz. can cannellini bean beans, rinsed
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon cumin
11/2 tablespoons chile powder
Salt
Pepper
1 tablespoon cornmeal
1 tablespoon tomato paste
Sour cream

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large pot. Add onion and cook until slightly wilted, about 3-5 minutes. Add garlic and cook one minute longer. Add turkey, breaking it apart and cooking until it has lost its pink color. Add the chipotles, cumin, chili powder, and some salt and pepper. Stir and cook for about 1 minute. Add the tomatillos, green chiles, and enchilada sauce, cook for 5 minutes, then add the pearled barley, followed by chicken stock. Stir, bring to a boil and lower heat to a simmer. Cover and simmer for about 25 minutes. Add beans and cook 15 more minutes, or until barley becomes only slightly chewy. Remove lid, stir in cornmeal and tomato paste, and cook for about 5 more minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Serve topped with a bit of sour cream.

For a bit of deeper flavor (and a bit more work), replace the canned tomatillos, green enchilada sauce, and green chiles with-

8 oz green chiles, stems removed

1-2 jalapeno's, stems removed

1 10oz can green enchilada sauce

1 pound fresh tomatillos, husks and stems removed

1 jalapeno

1/4 cup cilantro

1 teaspoon sugar

Heat broiler to high. Toss tomatillos, jalapenos, and green chiles in 1 tablespoon olive oil. Arrange tomatillos (stem side down) on a foil lined baking sheet along with jalapeno and green chiles. Place in middle of oven, roast for 5-8 minutes or until slightly charred. Flip and continue to roast until charred on other side. Remove from oven can cool slightly. Peel and seed jalapeno and chiles, remove stem part from tomatillo. Place tomatillos, chiles, jalapeno, cilantro, sugar, green enchilada sauce, and some salt in pepper in a food processor. Pulse until mostly smooth.  Add to chili before barley.