White Chili

Although thigh meat would be a tastier choice of chicken for this dish, Lovey won't have it.  He's got to have boneless, skinless chicken breast.  To alleviate a tasteless, rubbery piece of breast meat for the chili, I brine them first. 

White Chili

Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 yellow onion, diced

1 poblano pepper, roasted, peeled, and diced

1 to 1-1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast, brined, rinsed, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 cup frozen corn kernels (no need to thaw)

4 (15 ounce) cans white beans (Great Northerns or Cannellini) - drained and rinsed. 1 can reserved and mashed 

2 cups chicken broth (boxed or homemade) + extra if you want to add to your liking

Salt to taste

1/4 cup heavy cream

Suggested Garnish: Avocado chunks, crisp tortilla strips, oyster crackers, shredded Monterey Jack cheese, chopped cilantro

Method:

In a 3 quart dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and pepper and cook, stirring, until the onion has softened, ~ 3 minutes.

Add chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until chicken is lightly browned on all sides and no longer pink in the middle. (Add a little more olive oil if necessary)

Add the garlic and the spices to the pot and toss with the chicken. Add the corn, beans (not the reserved mashed beans), and broth and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes. At this point, taste the chili to see if you need or want to add any salt.  I usually do not add any salt because the brined chicken and chicken broth season it to our liking.

Add the reserved mashed beans to the pot. Stir in the cream. Allow the beans and the cream to warm up. Serve up and garnish if desired.

Shrimp Head Stock

I've made shrimp stock many times but never with all shrimp heads.  What a difference the heads make! The heads are definitely where most of the flavor is.  Whenever I visit Karen in Corpus we try to make a point to call the Shrimp Pimp. He delivers the best Gulf Shrimp right to your front door. Once he has weighed the shrimp and pulled the heads off I usually have him toss the heads. The last time I bought from him I decided to keep the heads and schlepp them back to Fort Worth to make some stock.  

Some Notes to Self and Observations:

• Using a stock pot with a pasta insert makes it easier to strain the massive amount of solids.
• Always start with COLD water.  The stock will be more clear than cloudy this way.
• When using the heads of the shrimp, versus the shells, to make stock the stock will have a much darker color.  This may make a difference in the recipe I will use it in.
• The most laborious task while making is the skimming of the foam. I will never perfectly remove all the foam so I don't worry about it.  I get what I can.
• Always salt at the end.  I found with the heads, I did not have to use salt at all.  The heads provided a perfect kiss of salt from the ocean.
• Uses:  soup bases, grits for shrimp and grits, cook pasta or rice in the stock for extra flavor
• This recipe halves well. This can be made with 1 to 2 pound of heads.  Adjust other ingredients accordingly.

This is the basic.

 Rinse the heads and throw in a large pot.  I used my 16 quart stock pot with a pasta insert

 Prepare all the vegetables and seasonings and throw on top of heads.

 Fill pot with enough COLD water to cover ingredients by two inches.

Bring to a boil.  When the stock is boiling, skim off any foam that forms at the surface.  Lower your heat and let the stock gently simmer for about an hour, hour and a half.  Skim foam off as needed.

Strain the broth through a fine mesh strainer.  When using this large amount of shrimp heads, cooking them in the pasta insert basket made it easy for the first straining.  For the second straining I lined a fine mesh strainer with a towel to catch the fine particles and sediment.

Let the broth cool then divide into Ball jars or freezer baggies to freeze. 

Shrimp Head Broth
Makes approximately 6 quarts broth

Ingredients:
4 pounds Shrimp heads, rinsed
2 medium yellow onions, coarsely chopped
4 large celery stalks with leaves, washed and coarsely chopped
4 medium carrots, washed and coarsely chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed 
4 bay leaves
2 tsps black peppercorns

Method:
In a large stock pot, place all ingredients and cover with enough COLD water to cover by 2 inches.

Bring to a boil.  Skim off any foam that forms on the surface. Lower heat to allow the stock to simmer very gently for about and hour to an hour and a half.  As any foam forms, skim it off.

Allow the stock to cool for awhile before straining.  

Since I used my stock pot with the pasta insert it allowed the first straining to be really easy; just like straining the spaghetti when you lift the basket out. For the second straining, strain through a fine mesh strainer that has been lined with a piece of muslim, several layers of cheese cloth, or a fine kitchen towel. This will catch any tiny bits and sediment.