Twenty-minute chili

I love chili, and I love trying new recipes. I also love every recipe I've ever made from on of Suzanne Somers Somersize line of books. When I follow her eating plan, I feel great. I don't always follow the plan, but I think it's a good one. This chili recipe came from the Fast & Easy.

Twenty-minute chili (with Venison)
3 tbs olive oil
2 large red onions, chopped
6 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 lbs venison, ground
28 ounce tomatoes, diced
2/3 cup red wine
14 ounce chicken broth
1/4 cup Italian parsley, chopped
1/4 tsp salt
4 tsp cumin, ground
1 1/2 tbs chili powder
1 1/2 tsp oregano, ground

1. Heat skillet over medium high heat. Add olive oil and onion and cook until soft and slightly browned, about 5 minutes.

2. Add garlic and cook 1 minute.

3. Add ground venison and cook with the onion mixture until browned and almost cooked through.

4. Add tomatoes and cook 3 minutes.

5. Add wine to boiling mixture and cook 2 minutes, until the alcohol is cooked out.

6. Add chicken broth, parsley, salt, pepper, and spices. Cook five minutes more.

7. Serve with grated swiss or cheddar cheese and sour cream.

Venison White Chili

My friend who is currently at the Air Force War College gave me a wonderful Christmas gift: a copy of the War College annual cookbook, which contains hundreds of recipes submitted by the students and their spouses. It's an amazing cookbook.

The first thing I tried was one of the White Chili recipes. I modified it a bit, of course (cuz that's what I do). It was so good. It makes a lot, but didn't last too long in our house.

Then I made the mistake of running it through the nutrition calculator. 608 calories per 1 1/4 cup serving isn't bad, is it? Oh well...it's worth it!

White Venison Chili

1 lb venison, chopped into cubes
1 tbs olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
4 oz canned diced jalapeno peppers
4 oz canned chopped green chile peppers
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground cayenne pepper
14 oz chicken broth
3 15-oz cans white beans
2 cups frozen corn
1 cup shredded swiss cheese
Sour cream

Brown the venison and set aside. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Slowly cook and stir the onion until tender. Mix in the garlic, jalapeno, green chilies, cumin, oregano, and cayenne. Continue to cook and stir the mixture until tender, about three minutes. Mix in the chicken broth, venison, white beans, and corn. Simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and slowly stir in the cheese until melted. Serve with a dollop of sour cream.

This is great with blue corn tortilla chips. And the kids say I have to warn every one that it’s really spicy.

Taco Soup with Venison

I recently participated in a recipe exchange. Alas, I believe it was with my friends where the chain fell apart...after two weeks, I've only received three recipes. But the three I got look great!

Meg Poston sent me this taco soup recipe. I don't know where she got it, but she said she's modified it over time, getting it down to it's very simple current form. It is very good. I would really classify it more of a chili than a soup, but does that really matter on a cold winter night? No, not at all.

Making this recipe also gave me a chance to do some internet research. It calls for Rotel tomatoes, which I'd never heard of. In a rare fit of sanity, I decided to find out what they are before going to the grocery store. Good thing too, because my local International Market doesn't carry them. So, what they are is a brand of diced tomatoes with green chiles. After much poking around, I found a can of tomatoes with green chiles that I suspect was the same thing (or very darn close).

Taco Soup with Venison
1 lb lean venison, cubed (stew quality meat)
1 onion, chopped
1 pkg taco seasonings
1 pkg dry Ranch seasonings
2 large cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can Rotel tomatoes, undrained
1 can black beans
1 can pinto beans
1 1/2 cups frozen whole kernel corn (or one can of corn)

I made this in a crock pot. To do that, sauté the onions in olive oil. Then put all the ingredients in the crock pot and cook on low 4-6 hours.

If you want to use the stovetop, then brown the meat with the onion in a soup pot. Add seasonings. Drain beans and corn. Add to meat along with tomatoes. Simmer until well blended and hot.

Serve with Tostitos or Fritos, sour cream and grated cheese. Eat and enjoy.

Warm Chili for a Chilly Day

brrrr...it's cold here. The fact that our brand new furnace is broken probably isn't helping! Thank goodness for cuddly pets and space heaters. Chili also helps on day like this, and I just so happen to have some ground venison already thawed.

I love chili in pretty much any form. This recipe, though, is my old standby (perhaps because I've memorized it by heart). It's adapted from the Vegetarian Chipotle Chili recipe in the Colorado Collage Cookbook published by the Junior League of Denver in 1995 (one of my absolute favorite cookbooks).

Venison Chipotle Chili

2 lbs ground venison
1 tbs olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 tbs chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1 28-oz can plum tomatoes with juice, chopped
1-2 tbs chopped canned chipotle chiles in adbobo sauce
salt and pepper to taste

In large skillet, brown the venison and set aside. In large, heave saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions, garlic, and peppers. Cook until tender (about ten minutes). Add chili powder and cumin and cook, stirring frequently, for two minutes. Add the meat, tomatoes, and chipotle chiles. Heat to boiling. Add a little water if it looks thicker than you like. Reduce heat and simmer for at least 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Like most chiles, you can eat this immediately, but it's really better the next day (after the flavors have gotten to know each other a little better). Note of warning...the chipotle peppers can pack a punch, so if you're feeding people who prefer their chili mild, than only use 1 tbs of them.

I'll post a picture when I make it and get one!