Recipes from the Road: Ed’s “Love Chili” Soup

From Ed Sachs
Serves … many

The debate is long-simmering: Does chili count as soup? But Sheila’s baby brother Ed put a new spin on this old question when he brought this – in his own hand-decorated PBR-themed Crock-Pot — to our Soup & Bread night at Milwaukee’s Sugar Maple on December 1. Spicy, meaty, rich with beans and bacon, it opened up a whole new field of inquiry: Can soup count as chili? We say sure, why not? Thanks, Ed!

Ingredients
3 large chicken breasts, cubed
1 or 2 rings of smoked sausage or a spicy sausage, cut in small pieces
½ pound bacon ( or a full pound for the true baconaholic) cut into small pieces
2 28-ounce cans of tomatillas, placed in food processor till liquefied.
4 cans of Bush’s Northern Beans
1 can of sweet corn
1 32-ounce can of chicken broth
1 large sweet onion, diced
3 stalks celery diced
3 or 4 cloves garlic, minced or fine cut
1 red or green pepper
1 Anaheim pepper
1 banana pepper
1 poblano pepper
1 jalapeno pepper (or 2 or 3 if you want to have fun)

Spices
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
2-4 tablespoons chili powder
½ teaspoon oregano

Preparation
In a six-quart pot, render the bacon down and drain excess fat. (Save in a can on the stove like grandma did.)  Add the chicken chunks and cook thoroughly.  Add the sausage, then add the onions, garlic, and celery and cook till soft. Add diced peppers and cook till softened. Add the spices,tomatillo puree, and can of corn, then drain the beans and wash the starch off and add to the pot. Finally, add chicken broth to desired thickness.  Simmer for one hour, stirring occasionally

Serve it up!

It’s like a warm hug from grandma on a cold afternoon.

Enjoy