MICHIGAN SKI COUNTRY CHILI MIX

Preparing the beans:

1. Pick through the beans. Remove discolored, shriveled beans and any foreign material. Rinse well.

2. Place the beans in a bowl with 8 cups water and soak for 4 hours at room temperature or overnight. (For a quick soak boil for 10 minutes and let stand for 2 hours.)

3. Drain beans and place in a 4 quart pot with 8 cups water.

4. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 45 minutes.

5. Remove from heat, drain and set aside until ready to use.

Preparing the soup:

1. In a 4-quart pot, heat oil over medium heat. Cut bacon into smaller pieces and sauté in oil.

2. Add ground beef into pot and continue to brown.

3. Stir in contents of chili pix packet and brown sugar. For milder chili, remove one or both chile peppers.

4. Add drained, cooked beans, tomatoes, broth and wine to pot.

5. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer covered for 1 hour.

6. Remove chile peppers. Salt and pepper to taste.

Optional toppings: sour cream, grated cheddar cheese or tortilla chips.

To boost vegetables, add additional can no salt added tomatoes, 1 1/2 cups fresh diced bell peppers, and 1/2 cup chopped carrots with the soup mix.

To give a Mediterranean twist, top each serving with 2 teaspoons unsalted sunflower seeds.

To cut saturated fat, prepare with 1lb. extra lean ground chuck and 1/4 pound extra lean pork, or go Vegetarian. At serving time, blend scallions or cilantro with nonfat, plain Greek yogurt and use as topping instead of sour cream, chips or cheese.

To cut sodium, prepare with low sodium canned diced tomatoes or diced fresh tomatoes and prepare with low sodium broth. To cut sodium further, substitute water for half of the broth.

To cut added sugar, prepare with 1 tablespoon instead of 2 tablespoons brown sugar.

You will use vegetable broth and butternut or acorn squash to replace the meat in this variation. 

What you need: 
• 1 Tablespoon Oil
• 1 Pound Butternut or Acorn Squash, Peeled and Cubed (or 1-2 boxes frozen)
• 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1 14.5-Ounce Can Diced Tomatoes
• 2 Cups Vegetable Broth (or 1 14-Ounce Can)
• 1 Cup Red Wine

Here's what you do:
Preparing the beans:
1. Rinse, drain and pick over.
2. Place beans in bowl with 8 cups water and soak for 8 hours at room temperature or overnight. 
3. Drain beans and place in a 4-quart pot with 8 cups fresh water.
4. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer covered for 1 hour.
Preparing the soup:
1. Sauté squash in a 4 quart pot.
2. Stir in contents of Michigan Ski Country Chili Mix vegetable packet and brown sugar. For milder chili, remove one or both chili peppers. 
3. Drain beans and add with tomatoes, broth, wine, and salt and pepper to taste.
4. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 1 hour.
5. Remove chili peppers before serving.
6. Optional toppings: sour cream, grated cheddar cheese or tortilla chips.

Recommended slow cooker size: 4 quart.

Preparing the Beans:
1. Rinse, drain and pick over beans.
2. Place in a bowl with water to cover by two inches and soak overnight.
3. In the morning drain beans and place in 4-quart pot on the stove with fresh water to cover by two inches.
4. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer, covered, 30 minutes.
5. Turn off heat, and drain when ready to add to slow cooker bowl.

Preparing the Soup:
1. The night before or in the morning while beans are simmering, use a large skillet and brown the cut up pieces of pork in oil and transfer into the bowl of 4-quart slow cooker.
2. Brown the ground beef in the same skillet.
3. Add the contents of the Michigan Ski Country Chili Mix and stir well for 30 seconds, then transfer to the bowl of slow cooker.
4. Put cover on the bowl and refrigerate overnight so that step is done, or if preparing in the morning, proceed by adding the canned tomatoes, brown sugar, red wine, beef broth and drained beans.
5. Stir together, set slow cooker on low and let it cook for 8 hours.
6. Come home to a full bodied hearty chili supper. Serve with sour cream, guacamole and/or shredded cheddar on top, if desired.

We recommend soaking the beans for this recipe. Soaking speeds the cooking time and ensures that the beans do not burst out of their skins under pressure cooker heat. If you skip the soaking, cook time should increase to 30 minutes, but your beans will burst apart more. Always make sure red kidney beans cook to the nicely softened stage.
1. Pour all beans into a medium bowl and add water to cover by two inches. Let soak 8 to 24 hours. We soaked beans from 9 am to 5 pm and prepared fantastic chili for supper.
2. Cut up 3-4 pieces bacon and place in bowl of pressure cooker on Sauté setting. Cook 5 minutes till bacon partially browned.
3. Add 1-1/2 lb. ground chuck to pot and continue to sauté meats 2-3 minutes, breaking up clumps.
4. Stir in 1 14-oz. can chili-ready diced tomatoes, 1 14-oz. can beef broth, 1 cup red wine, 2 Tablespoons brown sugar, 2 teaspoons salt and drained beans.
5. Set pressure cooker for 20 minutes. It will take about that long to reach the proper temperature before it begins the 20 minutes cooking time. Use natural release at end of cooking time, which may take another approximately 20 minutes. This makes a total of about 1 hour.
6. Serve with a dollop of sour cream on top and shredded cheddar, if desired, and cornbread on the side!