White Chicken Chili and Blitz Bread- A Success and a Failure

I had never seen a white chili recipe and when I saw this recipe and the reviews I just had to give it a try. I decided to make a foccaccia recipe which I had seen on the same blog to go along side. Fortunately the chili was wonderful, however, as you will see later in this post, the bread did not work out so well. Every blog I see this bread recipe on gives it rave reviews so I will have to try again!

White Chicken Chili
Source: Slightly adapted from My Kitchen Cafe

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 medium onion, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon oil
2 cans (15 1/2 ounces each) Great Northern Beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) chicken broth (plus one can water or a second can of broth if you want a stronger flavor)
1/2 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin (I added a little more)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 1/2 cup sour cream

In a large saucepan, saute chicken, onion and garlic powder in oil until chicken is just cooked. Add beans, broth, water, pepper and seasonings. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered for at least 30 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in sour cream and serve.

Review: Absolutely delicious - much more "soup-like" than your average chili, but a wonderful flavor and very filling!

Blitz Bread
Source: My Kitchen Cafe, adapted from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups warm water
3 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon instant yeast

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt (I used garlic powder)

3 teaspoons dried herbs (I used oregano, basil, parsley and rosemary)

dried herbs for sprinkling the top (I also topped with thin slices of red onion)

Grease a 9"x13" pan and drizzle 1-2 tablespoons olive oil in the bottom. Combine all but the last ingredient at high speed in a mixer for 60 seconds. Scoop the batter into the pan and let rise for 1 hour at room temperature. Once it rises, poke all over the top of the dough with yor finger, drizzle with olive oil and toppings of your choice. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 40 minutes or until golden brown. Wait 5 minutes then remove from pan and serve (warm or at room temperature).

Review: Well - I gave this recipe my best shot...unfortunately the dough did not rise and when I went ahead and cooked it anyway I ended up with dense doughy bread stuck to the bottom of the pan. I was only able to cut off the top of the bread as the base was so stuck and it was still not exactly tasty due to the consistency. I will blog if I try this again and hopefully have some success!