The homeless shelter I serve at, Sulzbacher Center, provides over 1,600 healthy meals to the community free of cost. One Thursday per month, I facilitate a cooking class in the kitchen to teach residents how to prepare healthy, inexpensive meals. In January, we prepared Executive Chef Kurt D'Aurizio’s famous White Bean Chicken Chili. Sous Chef Calvin Matthew adapted it for our class so we could make around 500 servings, enough to feed anyone who’s hungry for lunch in Jacksonville! One of his additions was fresh chopped tomatoes and kale. You can also adjust it by substituting canned beans for dry beans. Calvin recommends thoroughly rinsing canned beans to cut down on sodium. Kurt’s original recipe is below, but feel free to mix it up according to your palette. Enjoy!
White Bean Chicken Chili
6-8 servings
Ingredients
1 lb Dried navy beans
10 Cups Chicken stock
½ lb Butter
1 Cup Flour
3 Cup Half & half
2 Tbsp. Butter
1 Tbsp. Chopped garlic
¾ Cup Onion chopped
1 Cup Chopped poblano peppers
2 lb Chicken thighs, boneless skinless, cut into medium dice
1 tsp. Cumin
1 tsp. Dried oregano
½ tsp. Ground White pepper
2 tsp. Kosher salt
1 bunch Fresh cilantro, washed well, shaken dry, and chopped
Directions
1. Rinse beans well, cover with cold water, soak overnight
2. Drain beans the next day
3. Make roux from butter and flour and cook 30 minutes
4. Add half & half - stir until smooth
5. Place beans into chicken stock, bring to a boil
6. Melt 2 Tbsp butter and add onion, sauté until translucent; add garlic and poblano chilies and sauté for 2 more minutes; add chili mixture to beans & stock
7. Add cream mixture
8. Add chicken, cumin, oregano, and pepper
9. Lower heat to medium low and cook stirring occasionally for 1 ½ hours
10. Add salt and chopped cilantro, taste, adjust
For more information on Sulzbacher's food services click here.
This blog post was written by NHC Florida member Jen Hoerbelt.