M. Bison Chili Recipe

What's up everybody? It's been almost a year since my last post, and a lot has changed; I moved to Chicago for business school full time, and I hardly go out to dinner because of my grad school budget. Womp, womp! But I've become passionate about cooking and definitely know my way around the kitchen now! I'm still getting back into the swing of writing, so excuse me if this post is not as involved as the others. 

M. Bison. What the hell did the M stand for anyway??

Below is a bison chili recipe that I freaked the week. I call is M. Bison Chili because I'm an 80's baby that grew up playing Street Fighter as a kid in the 90's. Remember that cat M. Bison that you had to fight to ultimately win the game and that flying punch move he had? Well this chili packs a punch like no other!

Bison meat is a nice alternative to ground beef. It's got 50% less fat than ground beef.  Now, some types of fat are a good thing. Dietary fat, for example, provides energy, helps your body absorb vitamins, aids in brain development and helps keep your tissues healthy. It's that saturated and trans fat bs that you wanna avoid. Ain't nobody got time for that. Bison has almost 85% less saturated fat than ground beef. Less total fat, higher concentration of good fat both sound good to me. For more on fat and ground beef vs. bison go here.

Here's what you'll need, serves about 15 cups.

- 2 lbs of lean ground bison
- 1 14oz can of butter beans
- 1 14 oz can of black beans
- 1 15 oz can of kidney beans
- 2 14 oz can of fire roasted crushed tomatoes
- 1/2 can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- 2 green peppers diced
- 1 fresh jalapeno chopped
- 2 medium sized onions chopped
- 2 cups of celery diced
- 2 cups of baby carrots chopped
- 1 cup shitake diced mushrooms (optional)
- 2 tbl spn chili powder
- 1 tbl spn ground cumin
- 1 tbl spn cayenne pepper
- 1 qt low sodium beef broth
- 2 tbl spoons of kosher salt
- 3 tbl spoons of Lawry's seasoning salt
- black ground pepper
- all-purpose flour

1.  Ninja up the vegetables !

2. Brown up meat under medium heat, chopping up the bison to avoid clumps. Unless you're like Mr. Humpty and like your oatmeal lumpy.

3. Sautee vegetables together under medium heat with 2 tbl spoon of canola oil. Add in all the spices after 5 minutes, stirring around veggies with a wooden spoon. Make sure onions caramelize.

Combine veggies, beans, and bison into the crock pot. Add in half of the beef broth.

Set on low heat and cook for 8 hours.

Your work isn't done once you set the timer! Around the 4-hour mark, make sure you are tasting frequently, about 3-4 times before cooking stops.  Flavor with additional Lawry's seasoning salt, kosher salt, and pepper to desired taste.  Make sure to stir in the seasonings if you decide to add to it.  When it's done, have a bowl. It'll be alright. If you refrigerate overnight and microwave a bowl the next day, however, it's much more bangin'.  Maven out!