Chili Cook-Off: Week 2

This week's recipe is a chicken chili. I've only had chicken chili a few times; once was more like a weird soup and the other (which was really, really good) involved a seasoning packet sort of kit thing. So, I don't really know what to expect!

Week 2 recipe:

Ingredients

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 1/2-inch cubes*
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tablespoons cooking oil
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cans diced tomatoes, with liquid
2 cans condensed chicken broth
2 cups water
1 can tomato paste
2 cans kidney/navy/chili beans (whichever you prefer), rinsed and drained

Directions

In a 5-qt. Dutch oven, cook onion and garlic in oil over medium-high heat until onion is tender. Add chicken; cook and stir constantly until browned. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 40-60 minutes.

*I have also made this with shredded chicken and it is good that way too.

Modifications:
Well, the biggest problem was that I discovered we were out of chili powder while the vegetables were cooking. Oops. Then I found that we didn't even have enough ground cumin for the recipe. Double oops. However, I looked up the ingredients in chili powder and tried to fake it by grinding some cumin seeds, some chipotle powder, a dash of oregano, a garlic blend, a little extra cayenne pepper, and hope. I also threw in a few liberal dashes of smoked chipotle Tabasco sauce.

Cost:
chicken breasts = $2.50
diced tomatoes = $0.99 (for the big can; 2 small cans as called for would have been $1.60)
chicken broth (organic) = $2.29
tomato paste = $0.50
kidney beans (canned) = $1.88

I have garlic, onion, oil, and spices on hand. Most of them anyway....

Total = $8.16
6 Servings
$1.36 per serving

Verdict:
I am not a fan of diced chicken, but the texture didn't bother me here. It was tomatoey and rather spicy, although I certainly take responsibility for that given that I made so many modifications in the absence of actual chili powder. As it was, the chili was good. It might just be the context given that my husband and I were just talking about it yesterday, but the flavor and base almost reminded me of a spicy seafood stew. He suggested that we try the same chili with pork, which I think would be great, and/or add corn. I think different beans would be best with pork in the chili too. It reminded me a bit of a tortilla soup recipe I've made that has canned red enchilada sauce as a base.

Overall, it was definitely different and very good. It's an excellent base recipe that will be a springboard for experimentation.