It’s been quite a while since I’ve made something new and creative so I’ve not done much posting to the Druber blog. I’ve done several really nice breads and some great sea food dishes and some pastas and risottos, but nothing that isn’t a variation of stuff already posted, but this chilli – this was inspired. I’ve made it twice just to make sure I got it right. Neither Kathy or I have had anything quite like it so, I figure it’s blog worthy.
I got the idea from watching a chili cook off on one of the Food Shows. Everyone was making tomato and beef and red bean based chilli with variations on the spices, but nothing variable on the the tomato and beans – so while I was out on a long training ride – which is where most of my inspiration hits, I guess hunger is the mother of cuisine – I got wondering – what if I made a chilli soup that was all green with white beans? Along the way, I decided to fortify it with some pearl barley and viola! Here you go. Hope you find it as good as we did.
In a large stock pot combine
8 cups chicken stock
12 medium to large tomatillos, peeled and rinsed
2 4-5 inch Serrano chilies with seeds and most of the pith removed – leave more pith to increase the heat.
6 gloves of garlic
Bring this to a boil for 3 minutes then simmer until the tomatillos are completely cooked through.
At this point you can take two paths. You can use a stick blender to mix everything until smooth or you can take a masher to it and give the tomatillos a more coarse texture. I prefer the former as it completely integrates the garlic and Serrano flavors. If you’re going to mash the tomatillos, I find it better to mince the garlic and finely chop the peppers to avoid leaving yourself with larger bits of those in your soup.
Add to this
1 large onion chopped semi course – about 1cm pieces
6 sticks of celery cut into 1 cm pieces
Juice of two fresh limes
24 oz of chicken breast cut into 2cm cubes (shredded chicken would be good for this as well)
1 cup of Pearl Barley
24 oz of mini white beans – I have no preference for this soup if you use high quality drained, canned beans or beans you’ve soaked overnight. If you use soaked, beans you’ll need to par boil them so they’re nearly done before adding to the soup
1 cup of chopped green onion, cut into .5cm pieces stopping at the white
2 T. Garlic Salt
2 T Onion Powder
2 T Ground Cumin
Simmer this for at least two hours. Serve garnished with broken tostadas and fresh cilantro leaves. This get’s better the longer it sits so if you want to cook and refrigerate it overnight to serve the next day, your patience will be rewarded
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