Venison Chili

One of the first dinners I ever made was chili. I used to regularly experiment with different recipes, but several years ago, for reasons I can't remember, Adam started making the chili and it has been his deal ever since.

My husband and his best friend regularly do camp outs and sleepovers with all the kids—7 kids between the two of them. As a mom, I really appreciate that fact that my kids have a dad that takes ownership of the time he spends with them. Our boys each have a matching playmate. Anna is the only girl, but she manages herself as the queen bee. Last night Seth and his boys came down and Adam pulled out the chili fixings for the occasion.

Adam’s Venison Chili
(adapted from Award Winning Chili on allrecipes.com)

30 oz stewed tomatoes
12 oz tomato paste
2 carrots sliced
2 onions chopped
4 stalks of celery chopped
1 tsp. red pepper flakes (or more if desired)
2 green bell peppers
2/3 cup steak sauce (i.e. Heinz 57, but generic works just fine)
1 pack bacon
3 lbs. venison roast
2 packs chili seasoning
1 tsp. ground cumin
30 oz. kidney beans
2 Tbls. fresh cilantro
1 large can tomato juice or V8

(Basically, just make sure all the stuff above gets into a big pot and cooks for awhile)

We cook the venison in a slow cooker, but more recently a pressure cooker.

In a large (very large) stock pot, combine tomatoes, tomato paste, carrot, onion, celery, pepper, pepper flakes and steak sauce over medium-low heat.

Cook bacon until crisp. Pull venison roast apart with fork. Add both meats into the stock pot with chili seasoning and cumin.

Stir in beans and parsley. We always add a can of tomato sauce to achieve the proper thickness.

Tastes better the longer the flavors have blended. Serve with cilantro on top.