Slow Cooker Sunday - Buffalo Chicken Chowder

 I love me some hot wings. When I was pregnant with my second daughter I literally at buffalo wings at least 3 nights out of the week.  I have since decided that the "fire" in my wings must have been what lit the fire under that kid cause she is a nonstop blaze of energy.  I went to a dinner party a few months ago where they had a buffalo chicken stew that was so yummy but the chef would not part with the recipe so this is my slow cooker version and I hope you enjoy it! We did!

Ingredients:

• 3 cups potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 2 cups chicken, cubed
• 1tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 1 cup celery, chopped
• 1 teaspoon celery seed
• 1/2 salt
• 2 teaspoons pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon thyme
• 3/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 1/2 cups half and half
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1/4 C buffalo sauce (I used Hooter's)
• 1/8 cup flour
  
• blue cheese crumbles for topping

Begin by preparing vegetables: peel and cube potatoes, add to the slow cooker. Chop onion and celery, set aside in a small bowl. Warm a medium skillet over medium heat while trimming and cubing chicken breast into bite size pieces. Add butter or olive oil to skillet. Season chicken with 1/2 tsp celery seed, 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper. Cook chicken until no longer pink and heated through. Just before chicken is completely cooked add onion and celery. Cook until onions are translucent and tender.

Add chicken and vegetables to the slow cooker. Carefully pour in half and half, chicken broth and buffalo sauce. Gently stir. Remove roughly 1/2 cup worth of liquid, add flour to the liquid. Whisk well until smooth. Pour back into the slow cooker. add remaining spices: 1/2 tsp celery seed, 3/4 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper, ground thyme and red pepper flakes. Stir well. Cover and cook on high for 5 hours or low for 10. Or until potatoes are tender. Top off with blue cheese crumbles just before serving.

The Slow Cooker Sunday Link Up, hosted by Doggie at the Dinner Table, is a place for other foodie lovers to share links to their blogs. Every Sunday a linky will be posted with recipes from my own kitchen. The linky will be open for 24 hours and you can link up to posts you’ve posted in the past. 

The Fine Print: 

You are free to join the Slow Cooker Sunday link up at any time. You can also skip a few weeks and then come back.But we will miss you! :) Please link directly to a post containing a slow cooker recipe— not your main blog URL. Please only link to your own blog or photos hosted online. You MUST link back to Doggie at the Dinner Table in your blog post. This way, if someone else wants to join the fun, they can. You can either link with text or using the Slow Cooker Sunday photo which can be found in the sidebar. I highly encourage you to visit other participants and leave comments. This is a great way to meet new friends and become inspired in your culinary quests! I try to visit all the blogs participating as well!