CHILI! My favorite, and the first time we’ve been able to pull this off as a one local summer meal. Our local orchard, North Star, had been experimenting with growing beans and drying them, so we finally got a harvest and my FIRST thought upon seeing them at the market was CHILI! Husband again took the lead on this since he’s the chili master and had this amazing stuff simmering in the crock pot all day. I can honestly tell you that the only thing holding us back from the chili was the beans, and we had been pretty much doing this locally anyway, using bison instead of cow beef since it makes the resulting chili way less greasy. The whole meal together on the table was incredible – the asian pears were heated up a bit and drizzled with maple syrup. We managed to get enough tomatoes from the volunteer tomato plants to put in salads, so that worked out great. Really can’t wait to do this again!
Chili with Cornbread and Salad:
Bison – Backyard Bison
Hot Bison Sausage – Backyard Bison
Beans – North Star Orchard
Celery – North Star Orchard
Peppers – Jack’s Farm
Jalapenos – Charlestown Farm
Onions – Jack’s Farm
Tomato sauce – Homemade, frozen from prior harvest
Tomatoes – Our Garden
Asian Pears – North Star Orchard
Cornmeal – Mill at Anselma
Flour – Mill at Anselma
Maple Sugar – Miller’s Maple
Cheese – Birchrun Hills
Salad Greens – Jack’s Farm
Non Local – cocoa powder, salt, pepper, olive oil, balsamic vinegar
Looks and sounds fabulous!! Do you have a recipe for the chili??
Looks fantastic!!
Do you have a recipe for the chili?
Sure! Here’s the base recipe we use when we use store-bought beans, but all we did was replace the store-bought with one bag of North Star Orchard beans (it was mixed), used about a pint of frozen, home made tomato sauce, and replaced the Turkey sausage with Bison sausage to keep it all at the farmer’s market! It all (just barely) fits in a 6 quart crock pot. The recipe is more of a guideline – the husband changes it a little pretty much every time.
Doug’s Chili Recipe (Low Sodium Version):
Makes 6 Qts
Ingredients:
2 lbs Ground Bison
½ lb Hot Turkey Sausage – Casing Removed
5 medium onions
2 stalks celery
2 Bell Peppers
5 cloves garlic (chopped)
1 28oz can Crushed Tomatoes
2 15oz cans Italian Sliced Stewed Tomatoes – Drained
1 16 oz bag Dried Red Kidney Beans
2/3 cup Dried White Beans
2/3 cup Dried Pinto Beans
1 Teaspoon Cumin
1 Tablespoon Paprika
1 Tablespoon Horseradish
1 Teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper
1 Teaspoon Italian Seasonings
1 Tablespoon Kosher Salt
2 Tablespoons Cocoa Powder
Directions:
1 – Brown Bison and turkey sausage in pan with small amount of Olive Oil
2 – Add Bison and Turkey to Crock Pot when browned, do not drain
3 – Add all ingredients to crock pot, except the beans
4 – Cook for 6 hours on high, stirring occasionally
4 – In pot on stove; cook beans until tender as per instructions
6 – Stir in beans and cook an additional 2 hours
7 – Serve with Low Fat Sour Cream and Shredded Cheddar or Mexican Blend Cheese