spicy halibut chili

This recipe originally came from Kassi (who thought it was from Marsha J.), but I have made some alterations to lighten it up.

Halibut isn't cheap, so this might be a once a year meal, but we liked it.  All my kids except the picky one, who's name starts with C ate it.

1 medium onion, diced
1/4 cup white wine vinegar (or red if you are like me and that's all you have)
1 jalapeño, seeded and diced
1 can green chilis
2 Tblsp garlic, minced
1 tblsp thyme (I didn't have this, and it still tasted good)
1 tblsp basil
1 tsp oregano
2 tblsp chicken base
1 cup cream or 2 cups half and half (use milk or chicken stock to bring your cream up to 2 cups)
2 cups chicken stock
2 cans great northern beans
1/2-1 cup water
pepper jack cheese (I used about a cup shredded, but you could definitely use more.  I didn't want it to be too spicy for my kids)
cooked halibut.  (I used 2 large pieces)
salt and pepper to taste

saute onion and jalepeno, add garlic.  Add vinegar and herbs and chicken base.

add liquid (chicken broth and cream) and beans, and warm.

add halibut.

We like it with this cornbread.  I wasn't sure if veggies would be any good with the halibut, so we just had carrot sticks and fruit on the side.  A salad would be great.

***The original recipe called for 1 cup of white wine vinegar.  I think that's too much.  I think that it was supposed to be wine, but someone altered the recipe to be alcohol free.  I made it originally with 1 cup, and added my half and half and it totally curdled.  So, I remade it because I still had some cream in my fridge.  I'm not sure if half and half will always curdle, but I'm kind of afraid to use it again.  As I was throwing the box away, I realized that the half and half was the fat free kind.  So that's probably the problem, but proceed with caution when using half and half.   It's also possible that the vinegar is used to thicken it.  anyway, vinegar is so strong, I don't think I'd use 1 cup.