Venison and Black Bean Chili

Chili is great! It is great for warming you up when it's cold. It's great for serving over hot dogs, if you are so inclined. It also freezes well, if you want to make ahead or if you have leftovers.

You will need a Dutch oven.

Ingredients:

3 Tablespoons olive oil
2 pounds ground venison meat
2 cups chopped onion
4 slices bacon
8 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups chopped red bell pepper
2 chopped jalapeno peppers- seed one of them
1/4 cup chili powder
2 Tablespoons ground cumin
1-1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 can (14.5 to 16 oz) chopped tomatoes OR 2 cups fresh
1 can(6 oz) tomato paste
1-3/4 cups chicken broth
2-1/2 cups water
1 pound dry black beans, cooked and drained OR 2 cans (19 oz), drained

Add two tablespoons olive oil to your Dutch oven and heat up.
When it is hot, add the meat and cook for a few minutes until browned. You might need to cook it in batches.
Put the meat in a bowl and pour off the fat if there is any. Venison is very lean so you may not have any or much.
Slice the bacon into 1/4 inch pieces.
Add the rest of the oil to the pan.
Add the bacon pieces, onions, and garlic.
Cook over medium heat until the onions are soft. This takes about 5 minutes.
Stir in the bell pepper and jalapenos and cook another few minutes until they are soft.
Mix in the chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper, and the cayenne pepper.
Cook for a minute.
Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, venison, broth, and water.
Bring to a boil than turn the heat down to low.
Simmer for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Add the beans and cook another 15 minutes.

Serve.
Great with cheddar cheese and sour cream.

Makes enough for 8-10 people.

Enjoy!

You can also use other ground meat. It is excellent with ground turkey.
I cook my own beans and sometimes use the bean broth for part of the water.
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Last year's V- Vanilla Pudding

Spanish Rice

This is a favorite dish of mine. My mom used to make it a lot as I was growing up. In fact, this was the first meal I ever made all by myself.

Ingredients:

2 cups water

1 cup long grain rice

1 pound ground beef, turkey, or venison

1 white or yellow onion, chopped

1 Anaheim Chile or green pepper, chopped- optional

salt to taste

pepper to taste

1 teaspoon chili powder

scant 1/3 cup white sugar- optional

28-32 oz. tomato juice

In a medium pan add 2 cups water and season with small amount of salt. When it comes to a boil, add the 1 cup rice. Cover and turn down heat. Cook for 15 minutes, or until the water is completely absorbed. Remove from heat.

In a large skillet or dutch oven, cook the ground beef with the onion and pepper. Season with the salt and pepper as you cook it.

Drain the meat, if needed.

When the meat is cooked, add the rice to the pan. Pour in the tomato juice. I like it a bit saucier so I use the full quart, but you can use a bit less.

Add the chili powder and optional sugar. Taste and add more salt and pepper if you like.

Turn on heat to medium high and stir occasionally. When the mixture comes to a boil, turn the heat down. Continue to cook about 30 minutes or until you get the consistency you want. Also, continue to stir every once in a while.

It is important to have the heat on low at this point or you could scorch the bottom and ruin it.

This makes a nice big pot and will feed 5 people unless you have big eaters in the house.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I do.