Green Tomato Chicken Chili

As we get ready to head out for 5 weeks - I know 5 weeks- our tomatoes are coming ripe, but they won't all make it to the point where we can ripen them in the RV.  We have people coming over Saturday for a late lunch so I decided to make some Green Tomato Chicken Chili for the event. Here's what I did.

Ingredients:

Green Tomatoes - I used about 6 cups chopped small
Red Onion - I used one large onion
Chicken Thighs - I used 8 Organic thighs I took off the skin but started with the bones in.
Pinto Beans - I used 16 oz (dry) soaked overnight and rinsed
Garlic - I used 3 large cloves
Chilis - I used 4 small Aneheims and 2 jalapenos chopped fine after seeding
Chicken Stock - I used one box of Organic, Free Range Chicken Stock
Salt
Pepper
Chili Powder
Cumin
Olive Oil

Put 2-4 Tbsp of olive oil in a soup pot and add chopped red onion. Salt and pepper the onions and cook one minute on high then add the chicken thighs. HERE'S THE TRICK - Don't mess with the onions much while the chicken in cooking. It will add fat as it cooks off and the onions will get very well caramelized - they will almost look burnt. DON'T USE NO-STICK PANS for this. You want the onions to form a dark crust on the pan.

Turn the chicken every 2 minutes for 10 minutes. Pull out chicken and allow to cool until you can handle it. Meanwhile add a cup of the chicken stock and work the brown bits on the bottom of the pot loose. Add the tomatoes and chilis and cook down for 5 or 6 minutes. Add the garlic and beans and cook for a minute or 2 and then add the remaining chicken stock and season with salt, pepper, cumin and chili powder to taste.

Take the bones out of the thighs and chop to small pieces and add to the mix. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer for 1 or more hours until beans are where YOU want them. I like mine a little firmer than most folks so I was done in 1 1/2 hours.

You could just as easily use red tomatoes for this - just reduce the cooking time as they are softer to begin with. I used all organic ingredients, and my chili powder is homemade and 100% chilis with no salt or anything added. If you are normal and don't make your own chili powder you will likely want to use less cumin and salt as there is both in the powder.

This recipe makes 2/3 of a large soup pot of chili.

The RV is packed already and I am very bored and severely short-timing it now. Our plan is to try to post every day while we're gone. We will do our best to share the best pictures daily.

More soon.....