I didn't set out to create the whitest chili ever. Instead, I wanted to make a white chili (simply, chili without tomatoes) using Hatch chilies. But, I seemed to have missed out on Hatch chili season, as I couldn't find Hatch chilies anywhere. And so I found myself standing in the produce department at my neighborhood Safeway, looking at the four or five types of chilies that they did have in stock.
My eyes fell upon these beauties, which were simply labeled "white chili peppers." I'd never used white chilies before, and wasn't sure if the white color meant that they were less spicy than other types of chilies. However, when I roasted them, I could tell from the smell that they would indeed have a good kick.
After seeding and removing the skins from the roasted chilies, I put them in a food processor along with an onion and several cloves of garlic, and processed until they were finely chopped. And then I got started on the chili itself: heating cumin seed and coriander in oil, stirring in the chili/onion/garlic mixture, and sautéeing it all for a few minutes. After that, white beans that I'd previously picked over, rinsed and left to cook in my crockpot while I was out hiking were added to the pot, along with some peeled and diced potatoes. I let the chili simmer a while, then added dried oregano and salt, and adjusted the other seasonings - and voilà , the whitest chili ever!It tastes like the spicy chili that it is, but I'm having a eye/tongue disconnect, because my eyes see white bean soup, and prompt my brain to expect rosemary and garlic, instead of chilies and oregano...
