By the time you read this blog post the current events of today will have passed, It’s the San Francisco Giants home game opener this afternoon and as a California native I’m cheering my team on! I thought it only fitting to cook up a meal that just screams sports, so what else than…CHILI! This chili recipe has been a long time staple of mine. I love making chili because it’s such a forgiving dish. You can play around with the ingredients and the end result comes out great every time.  I have mentioned before that I have a diverse meat selection at my disposal so for tonight’s chili I used a combination of Venison, Buffalo, Beef and Pork.  I don’t usually have a lot of buffalo lying around but my husband picked it up at a local butcher shop and I figured tonight’s chili was a great use for it. I was a little skeptical that the buffalo would have some strange flavor that I wasn’t going to like but as always this chili turned out great.  Absolutely any combination of meat works for this recipe.

Rachel’s All-American Meat Lovers Chili (Serves 6-8 adults)

6 Ounces Italian Sausage

1 Pound Round Steak, chopped into even bite sized pieces

2 Pounds Ground Sirloin

2 Cups Chopped Yellow Onion

1 ½ Cups Bell Pepper (Combination of Red and Green)

8 Cloves of Garlic (Minced)

2 (28 Ounce) cans of chopped tomatoes with their juice

2 Tablespoons Chili Powder

1 Tbs Ancho Chili Pepper

1 Tbs Cumin

3 tsp Tomato Paste

1 tsp Dried Oregano

½ tsp Fresh Ground Pepper and ½ tsp Salt (adjust to your taste)

2 Bay Leaves

¼ cup red wine (optional…but highly recommended)

1. Heat a large pan over medium-high heat. Remove casings from sausage. Add all the meat, onion, bell pepper, and garlic to pan. Cook until meat is browned, stirring to crumble.
2. Add chili powder, ancho chili pepper, cumin and tomato paste, oregano, salt, pepper and bay leaves. Cook 1 minute , stirring constantly. Stir in wine and tomatoes and bring to boil.
3. Transfer to crock pot and let cook for 6 hours on low (or cook uncovered on the stove for a half hour, stirring occasionally)
4. Discard bay leaves and serve

Enjoy!