Recipe Saturday

On Wednesday, I mentioned posting this recipe "tomorrow".  Well, as you all know, it didn't happen "tomorrow" or even the next day but better late than never.  Here you go!

This recipe showed up in my e-mail and I'm not sure what made me take a second look.  I'm not a fan of traditional chili, and I don't do anything with ground white meat-ick.  But, it still sounded good.  So, contrary to my "AAAA" personality, I ignored the twitching that started when I thought about tweaking the recipe and dove in.  I was pleasantly surprised; it was a big hit.  I will note my changes as I go.

Buffalo Chicken Chili (mine turned out more like Buffalo Chicken soup!)

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 pounds all-white meat ground chicken breast (I used diced boneless, skinless chicken breast.)
• 1 large carrot, peeled and finely chopped (I didn't have any carrots.  Are you surprised?)
• 1 large onion, chopped (didn't have one of these either)
• 3 ribs celery, finely chopped
• 5 large cloves garlic, chopped (used my handy dandy "garlic in a tube")
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika (didn't' have this but a google search told me I could use the regular stuff with a pinch of cumin so that's what I did.)
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup hot sauce, depending on how hot you like it (used just a few splashes of this)
• 1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
• 1 15-ounce can crushed tomatoes (I don't do crushed tomatoes either.  Skipped this.)
  
  Place a large pot over medium-high heat and add about 1 tablespoon olive oil, and the butter. Once the butter has melted and the pot is hot, add the chicken. Brown it for 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 to a bubble. Simmer for 8-10 minutes to let the flavors come together.
  

I basically dumped it all in a pan and hoped for the best.  It seemed a little watery to me though so I added 2 tablespoons of corn starch to thicken it a bit and then right before dinner, I boiled some egg noodles and added them too.  It was really good!  In fact, it was all gone!  I will probably double it next time because I'm sure it would make great leftovers!