Chicken Chili with Ancho and Pasilla Chili Peppers

On the menu tonight – Chicken Chili with Ancho and Pasilla Chili Peppers!

We had some dried chili peppers in the pantry and I decided to include them in this recipe. I don’t use a lot of dried chilies in my cooking, so I did a little research on how to use them. Some people take off the stem and throw the whole pepper in hot water to reconstitute, then blend them. Others take off the stem, cut them open to get rid of the seeds, put them in water to reconstitute, then blend. Yet another option is to de-stem, de-seed, and finely chop or even grind and use them as you would any other dry spice. Knowing I would need some liquid for the chili, I opted to de-stem, de-seed, put them in the blender with some water and blend. I didn’t bother using hot water since they’d be going in to a pot of chili that would simmer for a while.

Other than the dried chilies, this batch is very similar to several other chilies that I’ve made. Once I tried the finished product, I will probably always incorporate dried chilies, they added SO much depth of flavor.

The next time you are making chili, I hope you’ll try my recipe and let me know what you think!

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Chicken Chili with Ancho and Pasilla Chili Peppers

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Chicken Chili with Ancho and Pasilla Chili Peppers

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground chicken (light or dark meat, whatever your preference)
• 1 dried Ancho Chili Pepper
• 1 dried Pasilla Chili Pepper
• 1 Vidalia onion, diced
• 1 Jalapeno, finely diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cans tri-blend beans (you could use whatever bean you like, including Great Northern, Cannellini, Kidney, etc)
• 1/4 cup masa harina (optional, use this if you want a little thicker chili)
• 1 can diced tomatoes or 1 can Rotelle tomatoes
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 2 Tbsp chili pepper
• 1 tsp Oregano
• 1 Tbsp Cumin
• 1/4 tsp Cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp Kosher salt
• 1 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 1-2 Tbsp olive oil
• Garnish:
• chopped scallions
• diced red or white onion
• grated cheddar cheese (I used medium cheddar)
• sour cream

Instructions

1

Prepare the dried chili peppers, cut off the stems, de-seed, rough chop and put them in a blender with 2 cups of water

2

Blend the chilies until smooth and you don't see any chili pieces

3

Pre-heat a large pot over med-high heat

4

Add the olive oil, the onion, and jalapeno. Cook 3-5 minutes

5

Add the dry spices to the pot and mix them in with the onion and jalapeno to bloom them, just a minute or two

6

Add the chicken and break it up so it can caramelize in the pot, 3-5 minutes

7

Add the beans, tomato sauce, tomatoes, blended chili peppers, and garlic. Mix to combine

8

Let the mixture come to a boil, then reduce to a simmer

9

Keep a cup or two of water handy in case it starts to reduce too much

10

Simmer at least 30 minutes

Notes

When I'm preparing to cook, I will pre-measure the dry spices in a small bowl. That way, you don't waste time searching for this or that spice and measuring when you need it. The last thing you want to do is accidentally dump too much of one of the spices in to the pot.