Red Bean Chili - Cooking With Angie

Since its right in the middle of winter I found there is nothing better than a huge pot of home made chili to warm up the body. Especially on the days we are stuck at home due to snow or ice.

Chili is simple to make on the stove top or in a crock pot and you can make it vegetarian or with beef or venison. But the longer you cook it the better the flavor.

Today I made mine with venison since I have ground venison in the deep freezer but if you do not eat venison use ground beef.

What you`ll Need :

1 - pound of dry red beans (large red kidney beans)

1 - pound of ground Venison or ground Beef

1 - large onion chopped

1/2 - large green sweet bell pepper chopped

8 ounces of mushrooms - fresh or canned - sliced

1 - Pint of canned tomatoes ( home canned or store bought)

1- 8 ounce of tomato sauce

The Spice :

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

2 tablespoons of Chili powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon salt

Cayenne pepper to taste

Now Lets get started : 

First and the most important thing to do is soak your beans over night in water not just for a shorter cooking time but it seems they will not be so hard on the digestive system (gas). . The next day they should be drained and rinsed before putting them into a large cooking pot with a lid.

Put the pre-soaked beans in the large cooking vessel and add enough water to cover the red beans, add 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat to medium low and cover with the lid, cook for one hour, stirring a couple times to make sure the beans do not stick to the bottom.

Next add the raw venison, yes raw because venison has little to no fat, you can use raw ground beef just make sure its very lean, if its not lean cook first and drain off the fat.

Bring to a boil once again, turn the heat down to medium low and allow to cook another hour, stirring mid way.

In the meantime chop the sweet green bell pepper and the onion, if you are using fresh mushrooms slice those as well, if not drain the liquid from the canned mushrooms. Set aside.

Now that the venison has cooked lets add all the vegetables and the spices.

Stir to mix well, bring to a boil , reduce heat to medium low and cover with the lid. Cook  for another hour.

Although it seems like this is a lot of work its not, each addition is an hour apart so you don`t have to stand over it all day. Just give it a stir as you walk by. The good part is you will have left over for the next day, or a few days, Or maybe freeze the leftovers for future meals when you do not have time to cook. 

Now this is one bowl of love that will warm you all the way to the bone.

By Andria Perry

Photos By Andria Perry