Tauren Chili

Today we invited the Gunny and his wife over to our house to celebrate Mawavi's birthday that was Thursday. We got up early this morning and went to the grocery store to go shopping and get the things that we needed. Maw and I love to eat and we love to cook so whenever we have these two over we always tend to go overboard cooking. I had a recipe that I wanted to try from the Food Network and Downhome with the Neely's. It is for Frozen Lemonade Pie and it turned out just amazing. I also found some ground buffalo meat at the grocery store and wanted to try it out in chili. I'm happy to report that it was really good, very lean meat and this was organic so no chemicals. I made coleslaw, mashed potatoes and black eyed peas at Maw's request because they are his favorites. He rolled some lumpia and grilled some pork on the BBQ.

After we ate the boys went in the back yard and christened the new fire pit with its first official fire. Apparently cardboard boxes, newspapers and the leaf blower were involved but I didn't want to ask. I stayed in the house to take care of our very attention needy baby girl. I'm hoping that it dries out some tomorrow, because I still have some irises that need to get planted tomorrow. The rowan trees are also starting to open up, and my jasmine vine has flowers on it now. So I'm ready to get outside and see some things, hopefully we'll get some sunshine!

Here's the chili that I made. It's pretty warm even though I cut the hot ingredients by half from the original. Tailor to your own taste. :)

Lythrum's Tauren Chili Verde (adapted from James Villas Stews, Bogs & Burgoos)

1 Tbs. olive oil
1 lb. ground buffalo meat
1 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tomato, diced
2 Tbs. ground dried hot peppers
1 fresh jalapeno, finely chopped
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. dried oregano, crumbled
1 Tbs. chili powder
3 c. stock
2 medium sized potatoes, peeled and chopped in small pieces

Heat the oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the buffalo meat, onions and garlic and brown. You shouldn't need to drain it because the buffalo is very lean. Season the meat with salt and pepper as you cook it. Add the remaining ingredients into the pan and cook over low heat for 1/2 to 1 hour.