What did I do wrong?

Ethnic Hash · **Posted:** Fri Sep 10, 2004 11:16 pm

My S.O. brought this recipe home from his aunts - said it was really good.

This is the recipe....

White Chili

1 lb chicken, cooked and cubed
7 cups chicken broth
1 can white beans - drained and rinsed (a 15 oz. can)
1 med white onion - shopped and sauted
1 clove garlic
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp white pepper
1 lb pepper jack cheese, shredded

Bring all ingredients to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer 3 hours, stirring frequently.

I ended up with a delicious soup - but with a huge lump of gooey, stringy, plastic-like cheese in the middle of the pot. I think the problem is that my broth was rather warm when I added the cheese, even though I added a bit at a time and stirred it in, so it did not all warm up together. Opinions?

Flash Gordon · **Posted:** Sat Sep 11, 2004 2:42 am

First..... beans are a filler/stretcher. Serious chili people don't do beans. Competition chili don't do beans. Don't do beans.

Second..... Cheese should be added on serving. Put the shredded/chopped/particalized cheese product on the hot chili when it's served. End of problem.

Ethnic Hash · **Posted:** Sat Sep 11, 2004 5:26 pm

Biting my tongue to refrain from an acerbic reply...but Duh...and that doesn't really address my question.

Obviously the recipe isn't a real chili recipe, but it has been done successfully before it was passed to me. Accoring to the person that gave me the recipe, all the ingredients are added at the beginning. Including the whole pound of cheese. The ratio of ingredients leaves a lot of liquid, and as it cooks, it cooks down and the cheese helps to thicken it as well, but the cheese is supposed to be better blended with the rest of the ingredients. Rephrasing what I asked before - would starting with all the ingredients cold make a difference in the reaction of the cheese?

The reckless chef · **Posted:** Sat Sep 11, 2004 7:10 pm

First of all Flash buddy,CHILI OUT!!!! Get it, Chili out. Okaaaay. Now hopefully I can answer the question. And the answer is that you answered your own question. When the liquid is not hot enough the cheese kind of sits there and cooks instead of melting to a smooth consistancy. Most chili recipes do say to sprinkle the shredded cheese at the end but I can see this one happening. Add about a cup at a time and mix well but make sure the liquid is hot. Hope this helps.

Flash Gordon · **Posted:** Sat Sep 11, 2004 9:29 pm

.... We have a history of chili competitions here and beans have always been a point of contention. Didn't mean to run rampant over your enquiry.

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