Championship Chili!

Today at work, we had a Chili Cook-off.  I decided to bring a Buffalo Chicken Chili for 2 reasons:

1 - It was different, so I was hoping it would stand out.
2 - We had a Daytona 500 party yesterday and it was requested that I make a spicy chili.

Well, I won the Chili Cook-off!  My first food victory!!!  More importantly though, my 11 year old said it was the best chili ever!

I pretty much followed the recipe that I found on Allrecipes, but I did make a few modifications and I scaled the recipe up to ensure I had enough chili to handle both the Daytona 500 and the Cook-off.  As it turns out, I had just enough.  The modifications that I made were to get the chili thicker which I loved, but it also resulted in it getting really dried out at the very end of the day, but it still tasted really, really good.

Here's how I made this Buffalo Chicken Chili:

Ingredients:
1.5 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons butter
2.5 pounds Chicken Breast
1 cup diced carrots
1.5 onions, diced
4 celery stalks, finely diced
7 garlic cloves, minced
7 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons paprika
1 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 cup Frank's Red Hot Sauce
1 - 28 oz. can Crushed Tomatoes
2 - 15 oz. cans tomato sauce
1 - 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 - 15 oz. can red kidney beans
1 - 15 oz. can white kidney beans
1 - 15 oz. can black beans

Directions:
1.  Season chicken breast with salt, pepper and southwest seasoning.  Bake at 375 for 50 minutes, then dice/shred.
2.  Heat olive oil and butter in a skillet.  Add onions, carrots, celery and garlic to melted butter/oil and cook for 3-4 minutes until vegetables are tender.
3.  Add vegetables, chicken, tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, beans, hot sauce and spices to a crockpot.  Cook on low for 8-10 hours, stirring occasionally.  If you need to cook it faster, run the crockpot on high for 1-2 hours.

This will make a really good chili with just the right amount of heat.  The chicken creates a unique flavor and texture.  It's not like eating a bowl of buffalo wings, but there is enough tang from the Frank's Red Hot that it does capture the flavor of buffalo wings.  This recipe will make a lot, so scale it down if you aren't cooking for a party and a chili cook-off.