Chipotle Chicken Chili with Flaming Tequila-Pepper Salsa and Avocado Ranch Dressing

For this round of the recipe swap, we had to submit celebrity recipes. This was an interesting theme, because I know some people are probably more famous in some circles than others. I submitted a recipe from Jaime Oliver, who I think is a very famous British chef. I went to his restaurant in England and I think that’s just about the only celebrity chef restaurant I have been to. I got this recipe from Rachel Ray, submitted by Kate at Kate’s Recipe Box.

I generally like Rachel Ray but one thing I noticed about her recipes is that they use a ton of ingredients. This recipe is no exception! It makes sense that she uses so many ingredients as she used to work in a grocery store, creating recipes that used ingredients sold by the store. This recipe wasn’t too hard, if fact it was the perfect dish for my husband and I to make together. I made the salsa and the dressing and he focused on the chili. I halved this recipe and toned down the spicy ingredients. Lately any food with any spice to me tastes really spicy. It’s quite frustrating because I used to like some spice to my food.

I’ve always wanted to use chipotle in adobo, and I have finally gotten the chance. I like it! We used some chicken sausage that we already had and I left the jalapeno out of the salsa. Otherwise not too different. I’m not a big fan of avocado (I know, I’m so strange!) but I loved the avocado dressing. We kept the leftovers and served it with some burritos we made for dinner. Good stuff! We really enjoyed this dish and had a great time making it. We’ll certainly make it again!

4 tablespoons olive oil
6 slices bacon, chopped
2 pounds ground chicken breast
2-3 tablespoons pureed chipotle in adobo (adjust to your heat preference)
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon smoked sweet paprika
1 large onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 tablespoons tomato paste
4 cups chicken stock
Salt and pepper
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 orange bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 medium red onion, chopped
2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and finely chopped (I left this out)
4 shots of tequila
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup cilantro leaves, chopped
1 avocado, pitted
Juice of 1 lemon
1 cup buttermilk or soured milk
Tortilla Chips

Place a large pot over medium-high heat with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Add the bacon to the pan and brown, about 3-4 minutes. Add the chicken to the pot and brown, 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally to break up the lumps. Add the chipotle, cumin, coriander and smoked paprika, then stir for 1 minute. Add the onion and garlic to the pot and cook until tender, 5 minutes more. Add the tomato paste and chicken stock and some salt and pepper to the pot and bring the liquids up to a bubble. Reduce the heat to a simmer.

While the chili is simmering, place a skillet over medium-high heat with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the bell peppers, red onion and jalapeños to the skillet and cook until tender, 4-5 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and add the tequila. Return the skillet to the heat and flame the tequila to burn off most of the alcohol. (Be careful!) Add the lime juice, cilantro and some salt to the salsa.

To a food processor bowl combine the avocado, chives, lemon juice and buttermilk. Process until smooth and then season with salt and pepper.

Serve the chili with some of the tequila-pepper salsa and avocado ranch dressing. Garnish with tortilla chips.

Recipe from Kate’s Recipe Box via Rachel Ray