We had a chili cook-off at our street fair here in OB a couple of weeks ago. This was one of the entries - an ahi tuna and white bean chili! I thought it sounded weird but it was my favorite one. Pete, the creator, kindly gave me the recipe and permission to share. It's really delicious and would be a great summer party dish.

TO MAKE 2 GALLONS OF CHILI:

This can certainly be reduced proportionately

3/1/2- 4 lbs Ahi tuna cut to 1/4 inch thickness

2&1/2 lbs dry white beans (use the quick soak method)

17-18 cups of your favorite broth like chicken or vegetable (I use a seafood broth)

3 medium red onions 1/4 inch dice

1 large avocado small diced

1 can crushed pineapple in heavy syrup drained but not rinsed

10 green onions coarsely chopped

zest of 1 each lemon, orange and grapefruit reserve some of the grapefruit juice

½ can of coconut milk

1-½ cups flaked coconut

1 small bottle of dark rum

1 each jalapeno, serrano, habanero, and yellow pepper smoked on grill till tender seeds removed

1 cup diced green chilies

1 lg red or fire roasted red bell pepper finely diced

¾ cup dark brown sugar

1 pkg slivered almonds toasted and cooled

SEASONINGS:

Sea salt preferably alaea, cracked black pepper, cumin, curry powder, thyme, oregano, tarragon, cilantro, liquid smoke and fresh ground nutmeg

PREPARATION:

Either early the day of, or one day ahead, smoke peppers on the bbq till very tender carefully remove seeds. If you’re making your own broth this is also the time for doing so. On the day of, sear Ahi very quickly on both sides and set aside to cool. Use manufacturers recommendations for the quick soak method for the beans drain water rinse and return to stockpot. Add in broth and turn heat to high leaving pot uncovered. Prep the remaining ingredients. 50 minutes into cooking the beans add some of the green onions and all the smoked chilies to a food processor or blender add about ¾ cup of the stock from the bean pot and puree. Add puree to the beans along with 2/3 of the onions and remainder of ingredients. Dice Ahi to desired size and add to mixture. Certainly, you should season as you go. The reserved grapefruit juice also acts as a seasoning. Use seasonings to your taste. When desired consistency is achieved, add in remaining onions then allow chili to cool and refrigerate covered. It’s always better the next day.



*Garnish with a few toasted slivered almonds and enjoy

Shannon,
You're right it sounds weird! But I guess that's the great thing about getting a recipe from someone as opposed to a cookbook. If I saw this in a cookbook, I'd probably pass right over it. But our company picnic is coming up and we often have a chili competition, so I might just have to enter this year with this recipe.

Question: when it says "small bottle of dark rum" how many ounces do you think that would be?

thanks to you (and Pete) for posting,
-Krista

Krista - I am assuming he means a half pint.

He served the chili with little bowls of slivered almonds and coconut to put on top. It was a really cool presentation. And totally different! It also tasted really healthy.