RR’s Buffalo Chicken Chili

I made this for dinner the other night. It was good, but next time I think I would experiment with another type of hot sauce. I used Texas Pete's because I don't find it as spicy as others and I was serving it to my daughter who does not do spice, but I think the Texas Pete's may have left a bitter taste. I also think I would add the hot sauce to the end of the recipe. Next time I would also try the chipolte chili powder, just to see.

I had to run to the store three times during the week because I kept forgetting to take the recipe thus forgetting to gather all the ingredients. I still ended up only purchasing one pound of ground chicken so I supplemented with a can of cannelloni beans, which I would leave in even if I had two pounds of chicken. I also didn't have the correct type of tomatoes so I just pureed up a 28oz can of whole tomatoes. I'm not sure it would make a difference which type of tomatoes you used.

Also, the whole chip thing was not feasible for us so I just made some cheese nachos and served them with blue cheese dressing and celery sticks. Yum on it's own really.

I liked the combination of vegetables, chicken, and beans, because it made the chili light and not as hearty as a regular beef chili. Leftovers were good as well. The Hub had a bowl and I used the little bit left as a dip for the nachos, blue cheese dressing and celery sticks.

**Note - I used about 1/3 cup of the hot sauce and sister wouldn't go near it...it had a bit of a kick. Yum.

RR's Buffalo Chicken Chili

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
2 tablespoons butter
2 lbs ground chicken breast
1 large carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1 large onion, chopped
3 celery ribs, finely chopped
5 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon smoked paprika (you can substitute with chipotles or chipotle chili powder)
1 bay leaf
salt & freshly ground black pepper
2 cups chicken stock
1/4-1/2 cup hot sauce, depending on how hot you like it
1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce (if you have a big can of tomatoes, don't go to the store to get the sauce, it's fine. Just use what)
1 (15 ounce) can crushed tomatoes

1 (7 ounce) bag corn chips
1 (7 ounce) bag blue corn chips
3/4 lb blue cheese, crumbled, recommended type Maytag Blue
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped (a couple of handfuls)

Place a large pot over medium-high heat, add 1 turn of the pan of EVOO, about 1 tablespoon, and the butter. Once the butter has melted and the pot is hot, add the ground chicken. Brown it, using the back of a wooden spoon to break it up in to small pieces, about 5-6 minutes. Add the carrot, onion, celery, garlic, paprika, bay leaf and some salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 3-4 minutes. Add the chicken stock and scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of the pot. Add the hot sauce, tomato sauce and crushed tomatoes, and bring up to a bubble. Simmer for 8-10 minutes to let the flavors come together.

While the chili is simmering, spread the yellow and blue corn chips out on a cookie sheet. Top with the crumbled blue cheese and transfer to the oven to melt the cheese, about 4-5 minutes. If using the broiler, 2-3 minutes should do the trick. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the chopped parsley.

Top each serving of buffalo chicken chili with a few blue cheese-topped corn chips.
Yields 4 servings.

Recipe from: Rachael Ray