Buffalo Chicken Chili

November done. The pantry is full — summer canned goods on the basement shelves, elk in the freezer, dried beans in five-gallon buckets, root vegetables in the cold room. We go into winter as prepared as I know how to make us. That preparation is both practical and psychological, as it has always been in families who live by seasons. The full larder says: you worked well and the winter has limits and you'll get through.

Cole Hartfield sent a message this week checking in about the January start. I told him we were still on. He has a question about shoeing frequency in winter — whether the longer intervals some farriers use are about horse needs or farrier convenience. The answer is it depends on the horse, but his asking the question correctly is a good sign. I wrote back a paragraph about how growth rates slow in winter but don't stop, and how a horse that's being worked on hard ground in winter needs more attention than a horse turned out in a pasture. He responded quickly and asked three more questions. I'm looking forward to teaching him.

Made a large batch of soup stock this weekend — beef bones roasted in the oven and then into a big pot with onion, carrot, celery, peppercorns, bay, cold water. Let it go for twelve hours on the lowest setting. Strained and labeled and into the freezer in quart containers. This is the invisible work of good cooking, the infrastructure of the pantry that makes everything else easier. You don't notice good stock when it's in the food. You notice its absence.

Posted a piece about stock-making, framed as an argument for invisible infrastructure: the work that enables other work, that doesn't appear in the finished thing but is present in everything it makes possible. Tom read it and called to say it reminded him of farrier work. I said it was supposed to.

The stock I strained and labeled this weekend is already doing its job — the first quart came out of the freezer two days later to form the base of this Buffalo Chicken Chili, and that’s exactly the point I was trying to make when I wrote about invisible infrastructure. You don’t taste the twelve hours of low heat and patience directly, but you taste its absence when it’s not there. This is a recipe that rewards a well-stocked pantry and a full freezer, which in late November feels like exactly the right kind of meal to be making.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 40 min | Total Time: 55 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 can (15 oz) white beans (cannellini or great northern), drained and rinsed
1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes
2 cups chicken stock (homemade if you have it)
1/3 cup buffalo hot sauce (such as Frank’s RedHot)
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and black pepper to taste
4 oz cream cheese, softened and cubed
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar, for serving
Sliced green onions and sour cream, for serving

Instructions

Brown the chicken. Heat olive oil in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add chicken pieces in a single layer and cook 4—5 minutes, stirring once, until lightly browned on the outside. They don’t need to be cooked through yet. Remove and set aside.
Build the base. In the same pot, reduce heat to medium. Add onion and celery and cook 5 minutes, scraping up any browned bits from the chicken. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more until fragrant.
Add liquid and seasonings. Return the chicken to the pot. Pour in the chicken stock, diced tomatoes, and buffalo sauce. Stir in smoked paprika, cumin, garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and a few grinds of black pepper.
Add beans and simmer. Stir in the white beans. Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce heat to low. Simmer uncovered for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until chicken is fully cooked through and the broth has reduced slightly.
Finish with cream cheese. Drop the cubed cream cheese into the pot and stir steadily over low heat for 3—4 minutes until fully melted and the broth turns creamy. Taste and adjust salt, pepper, or buffalo sauce to your preference.
Serve. Ladle into bowls and top with shredded cheddar, sliced green onions, and a dollop of sour cream. Good with cornbread or a slice of sturdy sourdough on the side.

Nutrition (per serving)

Buffalo Chicken Chili — The Kind of Meal Good Stock Makes Possible