In my ongoing effort to create more blog posts, I have decided to share recipes that my friends have requested of me. I’m hoping these posts will inspire me to create some more original posts, too.

It’s finally fall and the month of September marked not only apple season and everything pumpkin spice, but the commencement of my beloved euchre club. I hosted the season opener this year and made a stand-by Rachael Ray recipe: Apple Chicken Chili. It’s a white chicken chili with, you guessed it, apples!

what I used:

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 pounds ground chicken (the recipe calls for chicken tenders cut into ½ inch thick pieces, but I hate touching raw chicken and I like the consistency of the ground chicken in chili better than the larger chunks)
4 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 or 2 teaspoons curry powder (I add this in, so it’s completely optional)
salt and pepper
2 apples, cut into ½ inch cubes (any apples you have on hand or your favorite baking apple variety)
1 yellow onion, chopped
4 tablespoons butter
¼ cup flour
2 cups chicken broth
¾ cup milk (I always use whole milk)
2 (15 oz each) cans pinto or white beans, rinsed
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
sour cream, for serving

how I made it:

In a large stock pot or Dutch oven, heat half the oil over medium-high heat and cook the chicken seasoned with the chili powder, cumin, curry powder, salt and pepper. Once cooked through, transfer the chicken to a bowl off the stove.

In the same pot you cooked the chicken in, heat the remaining oil over medium heat and add the apples and chopped onion. Cook until just softened (about 5-6 minutes). Add the cooked apples and onions to your chicken bowl.

In the same pot you cooked everything else in, melt the butter over medium-low heat and whisk the flour in for 1 minute (until the raw flour smell is cooked over and it smells nutty). Whisk in the chicken broth and milk until it thickens (about 3 minutes). Add the cooked chicken, apples, onions and the rinsed beans to the sauce and bring to a simmer. Stir in the cheese right before serving.

Top with sour cream and serve. I made this about an hour before my guests arrived and left the heat on low, and stirred the chili frequently before actually serving it.