Bison Chili

We went to Costco the other day and decided to buy some Bison. It weirdly comes in a quantity of 1 1/3 lb in each pack. After buying said bison we had absolutely no time to cook it. I froze half the pack and kept the other 1 1/3lb out. Eventually, we decided to make chili. We got the ingredients and then proceeded to have no time to make the chili.  Finally, Joey made it one day after work. This chili only simmered for about 40 minutes but we have plenty of leftovers. We think there are about 10 servings in this batch of chili and bonus, just 310 calories!  You can totally layer on the cheese & fritos with those numbers!

Ingredients:
1 1/3lb bison
1 14.5oz can pinto beans
1 14.5oz can chopped tomatoes
1 28oz can whole peeled or crushed tomatoes
1/2 onion, 1 inch dice
1 bell pepper, 1 inch dice
1 jalepeno, seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic smashed and diced or pressed
1/2 t salt
a few grinds of pepper
1/2 t cayenne pepper
1/2 t ancho chili powder
1 1/2 t chipotle chili powder
1 T oil

Directions:
1. In a large pot, heat oil. Add peppers, onion and bison. Let soften and become fragrant. Add garlic and cook 30 seconds.
2. If you used whole tomatoes, crush them.
3. Add all ingredients to the pot, bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover partially and then cook for at least an hour.
4. Serve with cheddar cheese on top!

Chicken Chorizo Chili

 In order to incorporate the ingredients we bought for our stuffed peppers, we decided to make chili on Monday night. It turned out to be easy, cheap and delicious.  We also tried out some different peppers in the chili from our usual mix. This chili is probably too spicy for the average bird, but it was delicious to us. We both ate a little ice cream after dinner to settle our stomachs.  To make it less spicy, just don't use all the seeds from the jalepeno or reduce the amount of chili powder.

Makes 4 servings
1/2 lb chicken chorizo
1 jalepeno pepper, chopped with seeds
1 Anahiem chili pepper, chopped
1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
3/4 red onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced

1 T chipotle chili powder
1 T ancho chili powder
1 T oregano
1 t garlic salt
1 t salt
1 t cayenne pepper
6 grinds of black pepper
1 bottle beer, we used Pyramid
cilantro, for serving
cheese, for serving


1. Saute onion, garlic, jalepeno and anahiem chili in a frying pan.  Add chorizo after onions are partially softened because it won't take as long to cook.
2. Meanwhile, in a large pot add all other ingredients and bring to a boil.
3. When the onion is soft and translucent add the entire mixture to the large pot
4. Once the large pot of chili has come to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cover. Simmer about 2 hours or until you are hungry. Serve with cheese & cilantro and any other toppings you like.

Quick Beef Chili

It's New Years Day and nothing says new year & football like a warm bowl of chili. I decided to make one today for 4 for lunch.  Chili can be complicated and it can be easy and it is always delicious. Today, my first priority was not to make it overly spicy so that my mom could eat it without setting her mouth on fire.

For NYE, Joey & I picked up a nearly 9-lb roast at Costco. We cut it in half and roasted one half with a cilantro/garlic rub. Then I used 2 lbs of the uncooked half to make the chili. I cut 1lb in small chunks and ground the other 1lb into a course grind using the food processor (it worked great!).

This chili was fast, easy, and sat on the stove all by itself while we watched the parade/game.

Ingredients
2lb beef, half ground, half cut into small chunks
1 white onion, chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 jalepeno, seeds and ribs removed, minced
1 can pinto beans (15oz)
1 28.5 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 8oz can tomato paste
2 cups (about 1 can) chicken broth
3 T chili powder
1 T ancho chili powder
1 t cumin
1 t salt
1/2 t black pepper
1 T olive oil

Shredded cheese & cilantro for serving

1. Prepare all your ingredients
2. Heat olive oil in a 5 1/2 qt dutch oven over medium
3. Brown onion until soft
4. Add garlic and cook 30 sec
5. Add beef and brown
6. Remove some fat if there is tons
7. Add jalepeno, spices, crushed tomato, tomato paste, and broth
8. Simmer at least 45 minutes, but up to 2 hours is fine
9. 15-20 minutes before serving add beans
10. Serve with cheese and cilantro and hot sauce

Chili with bell peppers

It was a cold and blustery day on Saturday and Joey and I decided to warm ourselves up by making chili.  We scrounged the internet and our phones and cookbooks for recipes and ended up making a variation on this one from Bon Appetite.

One thing I both like and dislike from this recipe is the amount of bell peppers involved. I like it because it gets everyone to eat bell peppers but i don't like it because the whole chili has a taste and texture of bell peppers.  If you make this recipe I encourage you to either make it with less bell peppers or cut them smaller.

We didn't actually follow this recipe to the T. We halved it because we we didn't want to make enough for 8-10 people and then guess what? Even the half portion made enough for 8-10 people! We cringe to think how much the full recipe really makes!

We didn't use any beer because I couldn't find less than a six pack of stout anywhere and we decided against using Newcastle or Hefeweisen instead because we didn't know what that would do. We aren't what one would call beer aficionados.

Our adapted recipe of this chili was actually pretty good. I recommend it to you and yours.  Serve with corn bread or biscuits.  If you know Jenny, invite her over to make you biscuits to serve with the chili.

*Note - I just realized as I was typing this recipe up that I did not halve the chili powder from the original recipe but I did halve all the other things...whoops.  The thing is it wasn't THAT spicy and I kind of feel like if I only used 3 1/2 T total it wouldn't have been enough.  Your choice here.
Ingredients:
5 bell peppers, cut into 1/2 inch pieces (I advise that you use less bell peppers)
1 jalepeno, minced
1 onion, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 chipotle chili in adobe sauce, minced
3 1/2 T Chili Powder
3 1/2 T Ancho Chili Powder
1/2 T coriander seeds, crushed
1/2 T cumin
2 1/2 lbs ground beef (actually I used half ground beef and half steaks cut into 1/2 inch pieces but I think I would stick with ground beef if I did it again)
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 15 oz can chipotle pinto beans, undrained because of the chipotle seasoning and to add liquid since we omitted the beer (or regular, I was excited I had these on hand)
1 T canola oil
3 T masa harissa (Mexican cornmeal)
cheddar cheese (for serving)
green onions (for serving)
sour cream (for serving)

Directions:
1. Chop everything up, this takes about 15 minutes for two people to do so leave time!
2. Meanwhile, in a small, dry skillet toast the cumin and coriander seeds until smokey and darker, about 4 minutes, set aside.
3. In a large skillet heat the oil and saute the peppers, onion and jalepeno until soft, about 15 minutes.
4. In another or the same or even the pot you are cooking in brown the meat until no longer pink, about 8 minutes.  Drain if you used the pot you're cooking in
5. Add all the ingredients to a large heavy bottomed pot except for the masa harissa
6. Bring to a boil and then lower heat and simmer for about 20 minutes
7. About 5 minutes before serving, add the masa harissa to thicken the sauce. Stir it into the pot and continue to simmer.
8. Serve with cheese, green onions and sour cream and with biscuits or corn bread

Texas Red Chili

This month's Everyday Food had a chili cook off in it between the editors. They all made vastly different chilis but only two of them really peaked my interest. So this week Joey and I decided to make one of these chili dishes and then use the leftovers for a second meal later in the week.

We chose Texas Red Chili. <--see picture? I think we can all agree that our Texas Red Chili was anything but red. In fact it was brown, and it wasn't thick like chili and it really had no texture at all. What some call Texas Red Chili, I might call beef & beef soup. I mean it was good beef soup--but it was like just meat. Meat Beef Soup. And it's not even spicy.

I don't know what we did wrong. We couldn't find the right dried peppers but we used a replacement that the internet said would work. Our blending wasn't perfect cause we don't have a real blender--just an immersion one. But even if those things worked for us I'm not sure this chili would've turned out any better.

So Martha, what'd we do wrong? If you need some really moist beef for say, meat soup, you should make this recipe and add a bunch of vegetables and maybe some barley and it will be delicious. (beef & barley soup!)

1 1/2 ounces dried guajillo chilis or California Anaheim chilis

1 chipotle in adobo sauce + 1 T sauce

1 lb boneless beef short ribs cut into 1 inch pieces (we stripped ours from the bone cause we couldn't find them boneless)

1 1/2 pounds boneless beef chuck trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces

salt & pepper

1 T vegetable oil

1 onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, smashed

1 t cumin

1 t oregano

2 T cornmeal

3 3/4 C low-sodium beef broth

1 - 2 T white vinegar

Cheese, onions and yellow mustard for serving (yellow mustard seems weird but it actually tasted kinda good)

1. Place whole peppers in a pot and cover with boiling water. Weight down with a plate and let steam about 15 minutes until pliable. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the soaking liquid. Remove stems and seeds and set aside.

2. In a blender, blend reserved soaking liquid, chipotle & sauce, and dried peppers until smooth. Strain through a fine mesh sieve. Set aside

3. In a large dutch oven heat pot over medium high. Salt & Pepper short ribs and cook until browned about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.

4. Add oil to the bot and season beef chuck. Cook until browned about 5 minutes. Transfer to the meat bowl.

5. Reduce heat to medium, add onion, garlic and 1/2 C water and cook until translucent and fragrant scraping off bits from the bottom of the pan

6. Add spices and cornmeal and cook 1 minute.

7. Add meat, broth, chili puree and water to cover meat if necessary.

8. Cook 1 hour partially covered. Then remove lid and cook 45 minutes longer until slightly thickened. Add vinegar to taste and serve.

Flavorful Crock Pot Chili

I haven't used the crock pot much recently. I might guess it's been almost a year! I went through a period where everything I made in it was bland and massive. Quantities for a crowd.

However, after a few disappointing days this week of having dinner plans and then long drives dashing those dreams, I decided the crock pot was the right thing for tonight.

So last night I did some searching around for a recipe I could make with the crock pot for tonight without going back to the store. I decided that I had everything to make a pot of chili--down to the cheese and the cilantro.

I searched the web and combined a couple of recipes to make my own. While the chili was a smidge salty it was really flavorful and I highly recommend it. I also think that it is extremely adaptable to your meat & bean preferences.

Flavorful Crock Pot Chili

1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes

1/2 14.5 oz can tomato sauce

2 t tomato paste

1/3 C chicken broth

1 1/2 T chili powder

1 t cumin

2 cloves garlic, papery skins removed, smashed

salt, to taste (salt more than you think for the crock pot but not too much. I can tell you that 1 1/4 T is too much, but only just)

1 pasilla pepper, chopped

1 white onion, chopped

1 jalepeno, chopped, half the seeds & pith removed

1 lb cubed beef, any variety (you could put 2lbs of beef in if you want more)

1 14.5 oz can beans, any variety (I used great northern)

2 carrots, shaved

shredded mozzarella, for serving

cilantro, for serving

1. Add all ingredients to a crock pot. Cook on low 9 hours (I did 9 but I bet 6-8 would work just fine, mine sat on warm for about 3 more hours due to timing and commute)

2. Serve with cheese and cilantro topping

Spicy Beef Chili

I decided to make chili while at the store. I wasn't prepared with a recipe but I had a rough idea of what ingredients might be required. I pulled out my handy new iphone and started to look for recipes but I found the internet connection and no app yet downloaded to be cumbersome, so I just ran with it. I knew I had all the main spices at home--I just needed the other stuff. This turned out to be a 3-texture chili--meat, beans and sauce. I didn't add bell peppers and I cut the onions so finely you couldn't detect them. If you like textures, add bell peppers or cut your onions bigger.

The habeneros were pretty and on sale...the serranos have such a great flavor...

This chili was very spicy....oops ;) We ate it anyway with cheese and cilantro and corn muffins and glasses of milk.




Spicy Beef Chili

Ingredients
1.5 lb stew meat, cut into bite sized pieces if not already (that is chunks of beef--I like this for the chew factor, some people want this AND ground beef...)
1 15 oz can pinto beans
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 14.5 oz can chopped tomatoes
2 habenero peppers, stems removed
2 serrano peppers, stems removed
3 T chili powder
scant 1 t cumin
1 t salt
1/2 t cayenne pepper
1 medium brown onion, finely chopped (jf you can find one, otherwise just use about 3/4 of the giant one from the store)
3 cloves garlic
1 T olive oil
Cheese (for serving)
Cilantro (for serving)

Directions
1. Heat olive oil in a large dutch oven over medium high heat. Add meat and onion and brown until onion is soft.
2. Meanwhile, in a mini chopper, chop all 4 peppers and 3 cloves garlic. Combine spices in a small bowl, and open cans of tomatoes.
3. Once the meat mixture has browned, add garlic mixture and cook 30 seconds. Then add tomatoes and spices. Stir.
4. Bring chili to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes or more. 10 minutes to end of simmering, add beans and serve when heated through.