Venison Chili

So it seems like Charleston skipped right over fall, and now all of the sudden its winter! I know warmer weather is on its way, but this weekend was too cold for my liking. Friends in Greenville, Columbia and NC got snow- on November 1st! Anyway, the colder weather has me (and probably many of you) craving chili. Luckily, we had one package of ground venison left in the freezer, so I thawed it out and made some venison chili- yum!

Now there are about a billion different ways to make chili- including variations on the original with many different ingredients. Today, I stuck close to the classic chili, but there are a few things I do differently. For one, I use venison instead of ground beef. There is something so right about venison  in chili.

Ingredients

I use a can of kidney beans as well as black and pinto beans. The green peppers and jalapeños are a must. I also add hot sauce to taste at the end.

Dicing the garlic and onion- as you can see I like a thick diced onion to help make the chili "chunkier"

Don't you drink beer while making chili :)

Bacon!

Sautéing the onion, jalapeño, garlic and onion in the left over bacon grease

Set bacon to the side

Rinsing the beans in water

Chopped bacon

Tomatoes and beans in the crock pot

Add the spices to the sautéed mixture prior to placing ingredients in the crock pot 

The venison- I add yellow mustard and soy sauce to
take some of the "gamey taste" out of it

Strain the venison as some water will accumulate from cooking it

Once everything is in the crockpot- taste it and add more spices and hot sauce as needed

Ingredients

2 green peppers, diced
1 jalapeno, diced
2 yellow onions, diced
3 cloves of garlic, finely diced
2 strips of bacon
3- 28-ounce cans of crushed tomatoes
1 can of kidney beans
1 can of black beans
1 can of pinto beans
1 1/2 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp cumin
Salt (I use Garlic salt) + Black pepper

Package of ground venison (or beef/turkey etc)
~About 1 1/2 - 2 pounds

Directions

1. Put 3 cans of crushed tomatoes in the crock pot.

2. Pour beans into a strainer and rinse thoroughly with water. Add to the crock pot and turn it on low.

3. Fry bacon in a cast iron skillet and then set aside, leaving the bacon grease in the skillet.

4. Add the onion, garlic, jalapeño and green peppers to the skillet with the bacon grease and sauté for 5-7 minutes until the onions are translucent.

5. Add the chili powder, crushed red pepper flakes, and cumin. Stir the vegetables mixing in the spices evenly and allow to simmer for another 2-3 minutes. Add this mixture to the crock pot.

6. Chop up the bacon and add to the crock pot.

7. In the same skillet, cook your meat until it is no longer pink. Strain the water from the venison that results from cooking it. Then, add the venison to the crockpot.

8. Stir all ingredients together in the crock pot, give it a taste and add more heat/salt/pepper as you see fit. I like to go a little "lighter" on seasonings on the front end, because you can always add more at the end.

I added about 1 tsp of garlic salt and chili powder and several dashes of hot sauce.
Feel free to add other ingredients- I add fresh roasted corn whenever it is in season!

Make sure the chili sits in the crock pot for at least two hours (on low) to allow all of the flavors to meld.

This serves about 8 people.

Enjoy- And don't forget your cheddar cheese and other toppings of preference!

What are your favorite ways to make chili??

The Daily

This weekend couldn't have been more gorgeous! My husband, Will and I woke up Saturday morning, took our dog, Loosey for a walk, and then decided to hop on our bikes and ride over to The Daily for some breakfast.

The Daily is a market/eatery that is a sister restaurant to Butcher & Bee (also amazing if you haven't been- posts on it in the future). I had not been here yet but my husband had been by before work a couple of weeks ago. He brought me home a delicious watermelon and chai seed juice which reminded me of the fresh watermelon juice from our trip to Bali. Needless to say, due to the relation to Butcher & Bee and the juice I had, I was excited to finally try it out.

The inside is very eclectic with many specialty grocery items such as house-made jams, mustards and other accoutrement. They also sell coffee, wine and beer (plus they have beer growlers you can take home!) on a shelf in the corner. Fresh daily breads and pastries are displayed on platters for your selection and although we didn't indulge in any, they looked amazing. 

The menus are displayed on the counter top. 

Two things you'll notice right away: there is no cash register. Like the Apple store, someone will take your order with an iPad; and two, there is no seating. This seems odd at first but we stood to eat our breakfast and I rather enjoyed the experience. It reminded us of being in Italy casually sipping an espresso with a croissant. The area to stand and eat is next to the food prep/cooking station which was really nice because we were able to interact with the chefs. The Daily is going for a "grab and go" kind of place and I believe they executed it perfectly.  

Ok, my favorite part- the food! I was honestly impressed. I knew it was going to be delicious but it was even better than I expected. 

Will got the bacon breakfast sandwich: bacon, pimento cheese, fried egg, smoked onion jam on a homemade english muffin. The jam really shined through and made this sandwich different than your average bacon and egg sammy. 

I ordered the fried egg sandwich: fried egg, fontina, Harissa ketchup, bangin' relish and fresh homemade sourdough. Wow. The Harissa ketchup was the perfect addition to this sandwich. It gave it some heat and made the sandwich unique. That is actually how I would describe our meal- unique, exactly what I was looking for. 

We also got the avocado toast (which I have been LOVING all summer), and theirs was good. They put an heirloom tomato with olive oil, salt, cracked pepper, oregano (I believe) and olive oil. It was a little heavy on the olive oil, but it was delicious, and that tomato was spot on. 

Lastly, Will has really gotten into cold brew coffee. First it was french press, now it's cold brew. He first had it at Black Tap Coffee about two years ago and has been making it at home since. The Daily uses Stumptown Coffee based out of Portland, and it was definitely one of the better cups we've had around Charleston. I actually don't like coffee but I will always try Will's. 

I ordered the Super Green Smoothie, which I actually brought home and had for lunch because I was so full. Normally the sandwiches would be enough for breakfast but I couldn't leave without trying one of their smoothies. Nothing more to say than it was absolutely delicious. The sweetness of the coconut and apple balanced the bitterness of the kale without overpowering it. I will be going back regularly for their juices.

One last thing I must point out, customer service. I cannot say enough great things about the staff at The Daily. Everyone was so attentive and genuinely seemed to care that we had a good experience. We were asked by multiple staffers how the food was and when I inquired about what they were making I got an in detail answer of the recipe, which I was not expecting. 

Here is the link to the restaurant if you want to check it out http://www.shopthedaily.com and I highly recommend that you do. If you head there soon, we might just run into each other because this place has quickly climbed to the top of my "go-to" list.