Hearty Chili

It's kind of a 'blah' day today...The perfect day for some homemade chili.

Now, I think everyone who makes chili has a tried and true recipe. The one they grew up eating, the one that has been handed down. And don't get me wrong, I have one like that too. Its delicious. It makes me think of home and cold winter days. But when I opened my freezer and saw that I only had one pound of ground beef...and a whole bunch of ground venison, I decided to scour the net and find something new to try.

I found a ton of recipes and after reading all of them and looking through my cabinets I decided to just sort of...well combine a few of them. What I ended up with and is now simmering on my stove smelling delicious is what I'm going to call 'Hearty Chili'.

Hearty Chili
(Recipe and photos by Busy Nothings)

1 lb ground beef
1 1/2 lbs ground venison
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 (28-oz) can whole tomatoes
1 (28-oz) can diced tomatoes (I used the can with the Italian herbs in it)
1 (6-oz) can tomato paste
1/4 C chili powder
3 T. cumin
1 1/2 t. garlic powder
1 1/2 t. onion powder
3 green onions, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 (12-oz) lager style beer (I used Killians)
1 lb BACON! (Told you it was hearty!)
3 cans dark red kidney beans.
salt and pepper to taste

Brown the ground meat with the onion and garlic. Add the tomatoes and stir. Add all the spices and the green onion, bell pepper and beer. Stir. Cook bacon in a skillet and crumble. Add to the chili. About 30-45 min before serving add the kidney beans. Salt and pepper to taste!

One of the things I like best about chili? Its insanely forgiving. Don't have a whole onion? No problem. Want to change up some seasonings? It'll still be fine. It's one of the easiest, tastiest things you can make.

I like to serve mine with some corn chips (like Fritos) cheddar cheese and sour cream. DELICIOUS!