White Chicken (or Turkey) Chili

1 1/2 lbs chicken, cooked and shredded (I like to get a rotisserie chicken at Costco and shred it)

or

1 1/2 lbs ground turkey, cooked

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup flour

1 tsp salt

1/4 - 1/2 tsp pepper (or to taste)

2 cups milk

1 large onion, chopped

1 -2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 package taco seasoning (1 1/4 oz)

1 tsp chili powder

1 Tbsp cumin

2 cans chopped green chilies (4 1/2 oz cans)

1 can hominy (15 oz can)

2 cans great northern beans or navy beans (15 oz cans)

2 cans chicken stock (15 oz cans)*

1 cup sour cream

toppings:

sour cream

salsa

green onions

shredded cheese

guacamole

tortilla chips

Melt butter in a stock pot over medium heat. Add chopped onion and chilies and saute until soft. Add garlic, salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin and taco seasoning and cook for two minutes. Whisk in flour and cook for 2 more minutes. Slowly stir in milk and bring to a boil. **

Reduce heat to simmer. Add cooked chicken (or turkey), chicken stock, hominy and beans. Heat thoroughly. Remove from heat and stir in sour cream. Serve with desires toppings. Enjoy!

* You can add less chicken stock if you want a thicker chili.

** This is also a good crock pot recipe. When I make it in the crock pot I make the cream base for the chili in a 4 quart sauce pan on the stove top then I mix everything except the sour cream together in the crock pot and bring it up to temperature. Stir in the sour cream just before you're ready to serve it.

Cauliflower Cheese Soup

The Wisconsin Cauliflower Cheese Soup at Zupas is one of my favorites. Unfortunately, I can't find their exact recipe for it anywhere. I found a few recipes that are kinda close and I experimented a little bit and this is what I came up with. It's not Zupas' but it's pretty tasty! I also found this soup to be even better the next day so if you have the time make it the night before you want to eat it. ENJOY!

1 head of cauliflower, chopped

1 quart chicken stock

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup flour

1 tsp salt (or to taste)

1/2 tsp pepper (or to taste)

2 cups milk

1 medium onion, chopped

1-2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese

1 1/2 cup pepper jack cheese

1 tsp Dijon mustard

Melt butter in 4 quart sauce pan on medium heat. Add chopped onion, salt and pepper and cook until translucent and slightly golden. Add garlic and cook a couple more minutes being careful not to burn. Whisk in flour to make roux and cook for 2 minutes. Slowly add in milk and continue to whisk. Bring to gentle boil and cook for 2 more minutes. Set mixture aside.

In large stock pot add chicken stock and chopped cauliflower. Bring to boil and cover. Reduce heat to medium low and let cauliflower cook for about 10 minutes or until cauliflower is very tender. Reduce heat to simmer, add the milk and onion mixture and stir to combine.

Ladle the mixture in small batches into a blender (make sure you remove the middle part of your blender cover so the steam can escape and the mixture doesn't blow up on you) and puree until very smooth. You'll probably need to put each batch of blended soup into a large bowl and then add the whole pureed mixture back into the stock pot and remove from heat. Whisk in the Dijon mustard and the cheeses. Serve and enjoy!