Wednesday, February 4, 2015

VENISON CHILI 
By Barbara Winters 


venison chili by barbara tomer winters
VENISON CHILI 
After I mentioned that we got a backstrap of venison in trade for some of my husband's excellent smoked pork ribs, my house keeper asked if I liked venison.  Well, the conversation went more like this:

Her:  "You like derr?"

Me:  "What?"
Her:  "The derr?  You like the derr meat?"
Me:  "Oh, yes, yes we do.  Especially the sausage."
Her:  "Jose's cousin goes hunting and he brings us the... the derr heep."
Me:  "Mm hmm."
Her:  "Joo know.  The heep."
Me:  "Oh, yeah, the hip, ok, the haunch."
Her:  "Jess.  But two is too much."
Me:  "I'd think so."
Her:  "Joo wan' one?"
Me:  "Ah... Sure, that would be good."

So I got a very solidly frozen package of deer meat and began asking myself what we were going to do with it.

I  texted my husband that we had this and what should we do?  He said, "Stew.  Or chili."


Well chili sounded fascinating.  I began to explore the recipes for venison chili online and they seemed to be the same as beef chili.  I fell back on my absolute favorite chili recipe which I've used for ages.  It calls for 2 lbs. ofstew beef, shredded.  We ended up with 2 1/4 lbs of venison.  My husband gave it a brief time on the smoker for
a little bit of extra flavor first.


2 lbs. lean meat
1/3 cup chili powder
2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon onion flakes
1/2 teaspoon garlic flakes
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
2 tablespoons masa flour (corn flour)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne (optional)
2 cups picante sauce or salsa
2 cups water

Brown the meat and drain off fat.  In a Dutch oven, combine meat, water and salsa.  Bring to a simmer.

Ladle off 1 cup of hot liquid into a bowl and whisk thoroughly with the masa flour.  Slowly stir in to thicken.
Spread the cumin in a small pan and toast it over medium high heat, to bring out the flavor.
Add cumin and other ingredients.  Simmer on low for 1/2 hour to an hour.  Serves 8.
For hotter chili add jalapenos or more cayenne, to taste. Delicious ladled over cornbread.
*This recipe is taken from the pre-prepared mix credited to Carroll Shelby's Real Texas Chili.


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