Well, my wife wanted to enter a chili into a cookoff/fundraiser for her church. She asked me for help. So I basically took over. I told her we would make a smoked white chicken chili. Turned out she waited too long to inform anyone she wanted to submit an entry. Oh darn, 3 gallons of freestyle delishes goodness I guess we’ll have to eat it! So this is what I made.

Smoky Chicken Chowder

4lbs smoked chicken (weight before smoking) 

1 1/2 Lbs hickory smoked bacon (browned, but not too crispy all fat drained)

4 C diced sweet onions

4C  diced bell peppers (red, yellow, and orange)

2 48 OZ cans chicken broth

2 Quarts heavy cream

1 Lb finely grated parmesan

2 cans black beans (drained and rinsed)

1/4 C minced garlic

1/4 C Zane & Zack’s Honey-Chipotle

I liberally seasoned 4 lbs of chicken breast with sea salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder.   Once thouroughly seasoned on all sides I placed the chicken in a Ziploc bag with a generous amount of olive oil.  This was left to marinate for 24 hours in the fridge.  Next I smoked the chicken for 4 hours over hickory.  After the chicken was nicely smoked, it was allowed to chill in the fridge then diced up.  You could skip this step, and just buy smoked chicken, but what fun would that be?

In a large skillet saute the onions and peppers in olive oil until tender and translucent.  I had to saute them seperately, because I don’t have a skillet large enough to handle that capacity.  A slight carmelization is a plus.  Remove to a large stock pot or cooking vessel.  Add the smoked chicken, bacon, garlic, Honey-Chipotle, beans, and chicken broth.  bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 45 min.   Stir in the cream and parmesan. Bring back up to a boil, stiring frequently.    Serve with a nice crusty bread.