On Wednesday I posted about my casual chili and cornbread buffet.  I shared my favorite cornbread recipe and tips on styling the buffet in advance.  As promised, today’s post is about my favorite Deer Valley Chili.

Deer Valley was one of my favorite places to ski when in Utah.  If you are a skier, it needs to be on your bucket list!   The slopes had gorgeous scenery.  Their lodge had amazing food and one of our favorite dishes was their turkey chili.  It was delicious!

Although my skiing days are over, I can still enjoy the famous Deer Valley Chili at home.  I am sharing the recipe in what is believed to be its original form.  However, please read through my notes first to see my short cuts and changes.

Notes:  

• The original recipe uses turkey; however, I find it easier to use chicken.  If I am short on time, I will buy a rotisserie chicken, remove the skin and shred the chicken.  You can also dice the chicken if you prefer.
• The other short cut that I take is that I use canned black beans instead of the dried.  One cup of dried beans equals three cups of canned beans.  Make sure you rinse the canned beans well.
• Lastly, I felt 2 tablespoons of cumin and coriander were too much so I reduced them to 1 tablespoon each.

Deer Valley Chili Recipe

Serves 8-10

2 cups dried black beans (or use 4 cans of black beans, rinsed and drained)

10 cups water (only needed if you are using dried beans)

1 teaspoon pepper

1/2 cup unsalted butter

2 medium Anaheim chilies, seeded and chopped

2/3 cup chopped red onion

2/3 cup chopped celery

2/3 cup chopped red bell pepper

1 large leek, white part only

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons dried oregano, crumbled

1/4 cup corn flour (also known as corn meal)

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 1/2 tablespoons ground cumin (I used 1 tablespoon)

2 tablespoons ground coriander (I used 1 tablespoon

1 teaspoon salt

1/8 cup sugar

4 1/2 cups chicken stock

2 1/4 cups frozen corn, thawed

4 cups diced cooked turkey or chicken

Instructions:  

If using dried beans:  Soak black beans in large pot overnight.  The next day you will drain and cook them.   Add 10 cups water and pepper to the drained beans.  Bring them to a boil, simmer 1 1/2 hours.  Drain.

If using canned beans, rinse and drain.

Seed and chop the chilies, chop the onion, celery, red pepper and leek.  Mince the garlic.  Melt butter in pot and add chopped vegetables along with the garlic and oregano.  Cook until soft, about 10 minutes.  Reduce heat to low.  The vegetables are so colorful!

Add the flour and rest of spices, cook 5 minutes.

Add the sugar and 4 cups of the stock and bring to a simmer.

Puree 1 1/4 cups of the corn with the remaining 1/2 cup of stock.  Add this to the chili.

Add the black beans, turkey and remaining cup of corn to the chili.  Simmer all for 25 minutes.

Garnish with grated cheddar cheese, sliced green onions, sour cream and fresh cilantro.

Serve with cornbread or corn chips.

This chili freezes well!  You can also freeze the cornbread.

In case you missed the link above, here is the link to the cornbread recipe.

I am curious – Do you prefer white chili or the traditional red chili?

Enjoy and have a great weekend!  Thanks for stopping by.

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