Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Here we go again ... with the White Bean Chicken Chili

Almost precisely one month ago, I posted a recipe for white bean chicken chili. I said:

Everyone who knows me is well aware of the fact that I detest chain restaurants -- especially "casual dining" chain restaurants. Last week, I was more or less dragged to a local Ruby Tuesday by three female family members (go figure).

Seeing nothing on the menu that struck my fancy, I opted for a bowl of white bean chicken chili and Ruby Tuesday's "famous" salad bar. The salad bar was nothing to write home about, to say the least, but the chicken chili was pretty darn good. If Ruby Tuesday ever starts serving its chicken chili in big-arsed bowls as an entrée, I might - might - be tempted to once again place my buns in one of their booths.

That said, I found a recipe for "authentic" Ruby Tuesday white bean chicken chile on Recipe Zaar over the weekend, and I cooked up a batch tonight. I followed the directions - listed below - faithfully, which was a mistake. With each bit I said, "Man, this needs something." What it needed was more cumin, more oregano, more tomatoes ... more everything!


You know, I made a batch of chili using the above-mentioned recipe. And it was pretty good. But when I consumed the end result, if you will, it seemed to be lacking something.

Tonight, I made a big pot o' white bean chicken chili. I followed the original recipe ... but I doubled-up on the amount of cumin added, and I threw in a tablespoon of chili powder. The final result was a dish that tasted JUST like its commercial inspiration:


If'n you tell me my chili don't look good, I'll die ... I'll just die (apologies to Mary Alice Carter).

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

looks like a can of white beenie weenies.

YOU AINT NO COOK!!!

Anonymous said...

No. Beenie Weenies no.

Looks like an appetizer at a national chain.

It looks like nothing from a can or frozen. It looks kitchen good.

And I think thats pretty good.