White chili

I grew up eating chili con carne. My mom cooks it and all. It is one of the things I am most comfortable cooking myself. Never had white chili though. Thought it sounded gross, but a trusted friend spoke highly of it and shared the recipe she used so I wanted to give it a try.

My husband and I liked it; my parents thought it was okay. I think their minds were sort of blown by the idea of white chili. While I was cooking, my dad said, "So it doesn't have tomatoes? Why would you do that?"

I also made sure to add the cheese when my parents weren't looking because they tend to get nervous about the amount of cheese my husband and I eat. I didn't find the chili too rich though. It was very interesting to have the cheese melted into the sauce, different than anything else we eat regularly. And because of this, I think my parents didn't even really know that it had cheese in it.

I served the chili with cornbread. I think this also confused my parents.

My recipe needs some tweaking but I think this was a good first try.

Recipe
Adapted from Simply Recipes and allrecipes.com

1.5 lbs. chicken, cut into small pieces
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
2 t cumin
2 t oregano
1/4 t cinnamon
1/4 t cayenne
8 oz. canned green chiles
45 oz. cannelini beans
5 cups chicken broth
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1. In a large pot over medium heat, combine the onion, garlic and chicken and saute for 10 minutes, or until chicken is well browned. Salt to taste. Add the chile peppers, cumin, oregano, cinnamon, cayenne pepper to taste and saute for 5 more minutes.
2. Add two cans of the beans and the chicken broth to the pot. Take the third can of beans and puree them in a blender or food processor. Add this to the pot along with the cheese. Stir well and simmer for 10 minutes, allowing the cheese to melt.

Notes:

1. One of the recipes calls for ground turkey; I went with chicken just because it was on sale.
   
2. I only used two cans and did not puree a third can but I wish the chili came out thicker so I would puree a third can next time.
3. I only had half an onion. :(
   
4. I might consider using more spices next time.
5. I didn't salt the chicken before I cooked it and it really needed it. Don't make this rookie mistake!
6. I used 6 cups of chicken broth and it was a lot--although with the pureed beans, it might've been okay.