Paula Deen's White Bean Chili

I am not a huge fan of Chili - it is actually a combination of things in the traditional chili that I don't find particularly appetizing - the chili powder mainly,but the ground beef and the kidney beans don't help the situation. Individually the ground beef and kidney beans are fine, but no matter what it is in I can not stand the flavor of Chili powder. So, when we were invited over to a friends house over Halloween weekend for their traditional Chili and Cornbread dinner I opted to bring a white chili and can I tell you IT WAS DELICIOUS!!! I did do a couple of things different than the original recipe but I will note that below.

• 1 pound dried navy beans
• 5 cups chicken stock * I started with 5 cups, but ended up using 10
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter * I would suggest at least HALF this amount - I used the full amount but after cooking I noticed a lot of it was unneeded.
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 3/4 cup diced onion
• 1 1/2 cups chopped green chile's (fresh or canned) * I used 2 cans of diced green chilies
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 to 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
• Pinch red pepper flakes
• 1/2 bunch cilantro leaves, chopped * I used the full bunch - no stems

Rinse beans well, cover with cool water, and soak for 2 hours. Drain. Put the beans in large pot with the 5 cups of chicken stock and bring to a boil over high heat.
In a saucepan, heat the butter over medium heat. Add the garlic, onion, and chile's and saute for 5 minutes or until the onions are translucent. Add green chili mixture to pot with beans. Add the chicken, cumin, oregano, pepper, white pepper, red pepper flakes, and cilantro. Lower the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, for approximately 1 1/2 hours.*after 1 1/2 hours my beans were still very undercooked. I ended up cooking it for nearly 3 hours and it was perfect - however, this is when I had to add in more chicken stock, so watch the pot! Serve with cornbread, if desired.

Serves 10-15