Venison and Tequila Chili

My husband was recently gifted two pounds of ground venison.  I made burgers with one pound and this chili with the other:

1 TBSP vegetable oil

1lb. ground venison

1 stalk celery, diced

1c white or yellow onion, chopped

1/4 tsp. dried red pepper flakes

1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder

2 TBSP chili powder

1 (28 oz.) can diced tomatoes, undrained

1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce

1/4c gold tequila

1/4c orange juice

1 (15 oz.) can pinto beans, drained

2 TBSP chili seasoning

1.  Heat the oil in a deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground venison and cook through.

2.  Mix in the celery and onion; cook and stir about 5 minutes.

3.  Add red pepper flakes, garlic powder and chili powder. Stir to combine, reduce heat to low, and allow to simmer about 5 minutes.         

4.  Pour in the tomatoes, tomato sauce, tequila, and orange juice; simmer over low heat, uncovered, for 2 hours. 

5.  Add the beans and simmer for another 30 minutes.   

 Serve topped with Cheddar cheese, chopped onions, and jalapeno slices. 

Cheers!           

Red Wine and Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms

Served these last night as an appetizer to our pasta primavera dinner:

6oz. package ground sausage

12 whole mushrooms

1 (8oz.) package cream cheese

1/4c + 1/8c. Italian dry bread crumbs, divided

1/4c red wine

1.  Preheat oven to 325*

2.  Brown sausage in a skillet.  Drain and set aside.

3.  Remove stems from mushrooms.  Chop and set aside.

4.  In a madium bowl, combine cream cheese, mushroom stems, 1/4c bread crumbs, sausage and 1/8c red wine.

5.  Fill mushrooms with mixture and top with remaining bread crumbs.

6.  Place in an 8x8 pan and pour remaining red wine around mushrooms.

7.  Bake approximately 25 minutes.  Serve immediately.

Guess I could have thrown a little chopped parsley over the top before serving. 

You know, for color.  No matter though, these were yummy!

Cheers!