Recipe Review from 8/2/2021

Only one new recipe to report on from last week, and a bit of an odd one for summer: a chili! Was easy to make without heating up the kitchen, had plenty of leftovers, and I have to admit, kinda hit the spot. I served it with cornbread muffins. The rest of the week was a tried and true (and a favorite) salad with blueberries, blue cheese, spicy pecans and a maple-mustard vinaigrette. I love this one with fresh Swiss chard and kale.

Michigan/Lake Michigan 2016

The Meal Plan:
Sat (L) take-n-bake (S) leftover pizza
Sun (L) tabouli (S) Chili w/corn muffins
Mon (yoga) leftover chili
Tues - Swiss chard salad with blue cheese, blueberries and maple vinaigrette
Wed (yoga) leftover chili and salad
Thurs - grilled halibut and salad
Fri - BLTs with Egg and Avocado

Lunches - Italian pasta salad

Bourbon Venison Chili (modified from TheMeatEater.com)
Basically made this as written with two substitutions: used ground bear in place of venison (any ground meat will work in this), and I used water instead of stock. Works fine with water, lots of seasoning in this.

This was easy to assemble and, in the Husband's opinion, really good. It's a little sweet, a little smokey, a little spicy - everything that makes a chili tasty. *I* would have liked some red pepper, maybe a bit of onion, and some beans. There aren't any beans in this so it's more like a Texas-style chili.

Recommended!

Serves 4-6

2 lbs. ground venison
1 lb. bacon, chopped
1 large onion, small diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch green onions, sliced
3 cups stock
2 cups tomato sauce
¼ cup Creole seasoning
4 oz. bourbon
Salt and pepper
Toppings: cheddar cheese, grilled tortillas, avocado, and sour cream

Assembly:
In a cast iron pan (or large dutch oven), render bacon until it gets crisp.

Add ground venison, onion, garlic, and green onion.

Cook ingredients together until meat is brown.

Add Creole Tomato & Onion Blend and stir into the meat mixture over medium heat until thoroughly incorporated. Cook for 5 minutes to toast the spice blend.

Add your favorite bourbon and cook until the alcohol burns out.

Add stock and tomato sauce.

Bring chili to boil and then reduce to a simmer.

Cook for 30 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper.

Serve with cheddar cheese, grilled tortillas, avocado, and sour cream.