Bill's Most Secure, Award-Winning Chipotle Black Bean Chili

Winner of two 2013 chili cook-off awards: Most Secure (shout-out to the nerdy engineers) and Best Overall

Bill's Most Secure, Award-Winning Chipotle Black Bean Chili

(Not for the faint of tongue)

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground sirloin
• 1 pound ground bison
• 1 pound ground Italian sausage
• 2 (15.5 ounce) cans black beans, drained
• 2 (28 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes (use diced if you prefer chunky)
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 1 large onion
• 3 stalks celery
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded
• 3 tablespoons crumbled bacon
• 4 tsp beef base (I used Better Than Bouillon; or use 4 bouillon cubes)
• 1 cup beer (I used Sam Adams OctoberFest)
• 3 tbsp Chipotle chili powder
• 1 tbsp regular chili powder
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon crushed garlic
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons salsa picante or hot sauce (I used Tapatío salsa picante)
• 2 teaspoons white sugar
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon salt (I used Morton's Nature's Seasons blend)
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• optional: 1 diced jalapeño 

Directions

1. In a large skillet, brown the ground meats together. Drain.
2. Pour meat into large slow cooker.
3. Cut veggies (green pepper, red pepper, celery, and onion) into chunks and puree in a food processor (in batches, if necessary). Add to slow cooker.
4. Add all other ingredients.
5. Mix well and cook in slow cooker on high for 3 hours (or low for 6 hours), stirring occasionally.
6. Serve with your favorite toppings!

New Year's Day Pork & Sauerkraut!

You know what they say....pork & kraut on New Year's Day will bring you good luck all year long. This year I made a pork tenderloin and sauerkraut in the slow cooker, and threw in some kielbasa for good measure. I decided to go the easy route on this one....simple ingredients.


What I learned: The 3-pound tenderloin I bought was actually two tenderloins! I did not realize this (I'm a tenderloin newbie, apparently) until it was cooked and started to split down the middle. I think one would have been plenty....now I know!

Slow Cooker Pork, Sauerkraut, and Kielbasa


Ingredients:

• 3-lb pork tenderloin
• 2 tbsp olive oil
  
• McCormick's cracked peppercorn roasting rub (See? Easy!)
  
  
• 1 large can sauerkraut
• 8 oz beer (I used Sam Adams Winter Lager -- 6 oz for the slow cooker and 2 oz for frying up the kielbasa)
• 1 pound low-fat pork kielbasa

Directions:

1. Heat oil in large skillet.
   
2. Coat tenderloin with seasoning rub.
3. Sear tenderloin, until browned on all sides.
   
   
4. Pour sauerkraut into slow cooker, add 6 oz beer.
   
   
5. Place tenderloin on bed of kraut (add more seasoning if some was lost in the skillet).
   
   
6. Cook on high for 3-4 hours (or low for 6-8 hours....cook until internal temperature of meat is at least 160 degrees F - I love my digital meat thermometer!).
7. At some point while pork is cooking, slice kielbasa into 1-inch chunks and cook in skillet with approx 2 oz beer (more if you'd like).
   
   
8. Once heated through and browned, add kielbasa to slow cooker for remainder of cook time.
   
   

Cold-Day Chili

I'm bumping this post up because I made it again tonight and remembered to take pictures this time :)
Changes from last time: Today I used a mixture of Italian sausage, ground sirloin, and ground turkey. I also used our new Cuisinart 6.5-qt slow cooker (a gift from my mother-in-law)!

I will be serving this with homemade corn bread - check back for recipe and pictures!



My First Attempt at Chili: Success!
Originally posted on 10/30/2007

I have to admit that I was intimidated by the endless list of ingredients in this recipe. But I tackled it and I would say that the result was spectacular!!

Note: If you taste as you cook, you'll notice that this mixture is quite spicy until it cooks the full 3 hours. It still has a kick when it's ready to serve, not to worry!

The original recipe is on AllRecipes.com but I have posted it here with my alterations:

Ingredients

• 2 pounds ground sirloin
• 1 pound bulk Italian sausage
• 2 (15.5 ounce) cans red kidney beans, drained
• 2 (28 ounce) cans tomatoes with juice (diced or whole)
  
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 1 large yellow onion
  
• 3 stalks celery
  
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded
  
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded
• 2 green chile peppers, seeded and chopped
• 3 tablespoons bacon bits (crumbled real bacon - not the fake stuff)
  
• 4 cubes beef bouillon
• 1 cup beer
• 1/4 cup chili powder
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons hot sauce
  
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon white sugar

Directions

1. In a large skillet, brown the ground sirloin and Italian sausage together. Drain.
2. Pour meat into 5-qt slow cooker.
3. Cut veggies (green pepper, red pepper, celery, canned tomatoes, and onion) into chunks and chop them to a pulp in a food processor (in batches, if necessary). Add to slow cooker.
4. Add beans.
   
5. Add beer and tomato paste.
   
6. Add the bacon, bouillon, and spices.
7. Add the diced chili peppers.
   
8. Mix well and cook in slow cooker on high for 3 hours, stirring occasionally.
9. Either continue to simmer on low or serve.
   

Top with cheddar, corn chips, sour cream; serve on corn bread - whatever you're into.

Tip: If you have time, prepare this well in advance and let it simmer all day. I think it definitely got better the longer it cooked.

BEFORE - adding freshly pureed peppers and onions to the meat and tomatoes:




AFTER - This looks MUCH better!

Jacki's Jambalaya

Got this recipe from a friend and I am dying to try it! I will follow up with comments and a picture after I make it.

Ingredients

• 2 cups Chicken Broth
• 1 tbsp. Creole seasoning
• 1 large green pepper, diced (about 1 1/3 cups)
• 1 large onion, diced (about 1 cup)
• 2 large stalks celery, diced (about 1 cup)
• 1 can (about 14 1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes
• 1 lb. kielbasa, diced
• 3/4 lb. skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into cubes
• 1 cup uncooked regular long-grain white rice
• 1/2 lb. fresh medium shrimp, shelled and deveined

Directions

• Mix broth, Creole seasoning, pepper, onion, celery, tomatoes, kielbasa, chicken and rice in 3 1/2- to 6-qt. slow cooker.
• Cover and cook on low for 7 to 8 hours (or 4 to 5 hours on high)
• Add shrimp. Cover and cook for 40 min. or until done.