Buff Chick Chili
Serves 8-10

Adapted from Julie Michalek, third place winner in the 2009 Leyden Street Chili Cook-off

3 large chicken breasts
2 large carrots, peeled and finely chopped
1 large onion, chopped
4 celery sticks finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 cans chicken stock
1 cup of your favorite hot sauce (Julie uses her family favorite, Cookies hot buffalo wing sauce)
1 can tomato sauce (note I didn’t have tomato sauce so used a can of diced tomatoes with a bit of tomato paste)
1 sack tortilla chips
Blue cheese, crumbled

Place chicken breasts in a Crockpot with 1 can chicken stock and 2 cups water. Cook on high until the chicken is cooked. Let chicken cool, then shred. Discard cooking liquid. Mix shredded chicken and 1/2 cup of the hot sauce in a pan lightly browning it for 5 minutes. Return chicken to the Crockpot and add carrots, onion, celery remaining hot sauce, chicken stock, and tomato sauce. Season with salt and pepper and cook on high for another 3-4 hours.

Serve with blue cheese tortilla chips: Preheat broiler and spread tortilla chips out on a baking sheet. Top with crumbled blue cheese and place under broiler for 2-3 minutes. Watch carefully as they burn easily.

Note: For whatever reason I don’t own a Crockpot! I poached the chicken breasts until cooked through, then let them cool and shredded them before continuing with the rest of the recipe on the stovetop, letting the chili simmer for a few hours. I did find that my technique produced a more runny chili, so recommend you follow Julie’s Crockpot method if you have one.