Chatbug Karen

I missed the two nice days we had this week. I hope they weren’t the last ones for this year. I would like an Indian Summer. We still have leaves to rake and purple cone flowers to cut down. We also have a huge pappas grass bush that will need to be cut as soon as it dries out. If we don’t cut it down, we will have dried plumes all over the yard. Hubby would rather have an acne treatment done that to have to rake up plumes. They fly everywhere!

When the weather turns cold, I am in the mood to fix soups. Here is a recipe for white bean chili. I found it in Paula Deen’s collection of wonderful recipes.

WHITE BEAN CHILI

* 1 pound dried navy beans
* 5 cups chicken stock
* 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
* 1 tablespoon minced garlic
* 3/4 cup diced onion
* 1 1/2 cups chopped green chiles (fresh or canned)
* 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, finely chopped
* 1 tablespoon ground cumin
* 1 tablespoon dried oregano
* 1 to 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
* 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
* Pinch red pepper flakes
* 1/2 bunch cilantro leaves, chopped

Directions

Rinse beans well, cover with cool water, and soak for 2 hours. Drain. Place beans in large pot with chicken stock and bring to a boil over high heat. In a saucepan, heat butter over medium heat. Add garlic, onion, and chiles and saute for 5 minutes. Add chile mixture to pot with beans. Add chicken, cumin, oregano, pepper, white pepper, red pepper flakes, and cilantro. Lower heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, for approximately 1 1/2 hours. Serve with cornbread, if desired.