October 18th, 2012
I had a cold this week, which gave me the imputus to try out a recipe for chilli, which I’d made up in the back of my mind. For some reason I though that diced venison would go very well with beans in a hot spicy sauce and of course it does, as well as curing colds!
Venison Chilli recipe (serves 6):
1.5 lb diced venison (trimmed of any sinew)
4 slices of chopped streaky bacon
half a hot chorizo ring (chopped)
1 lb of cooked pinto beans – I cook them from dried, but you could use tinned
1 large onion (chopped)
1 green pepper (chopped)
1 courgette (chopped)
2 or 3 fresh chilli peppers (chopped)
8 medium sized mushrooms (chopped)
5 or 6 medium tomatoes, blanched and chopped (or 1 tin)
6 pieces of garlic (chopped)
several pinches of crushed, dried chillis (to taste)
2 or 3 heaped teaspoons of chilli powder – mix dried powdered chilli with a pinch of oregano and cumin (to taste)
1 teaspoonful of hot smoked pimentón
2 teaspoonfuls of ground mixed herbs (a pinch of sea salt, black peppercorns, rosemary, sage and thyme – ground in a mortar)
a big squirt of tomato purée
a small squirt of anchovy paste
half a pint of home made chicken stock (recipe here)
half a glass of red wine
a splash of red wine vinegar
olive oil for frying
Use a large cast iron casserole with lid – start by frying the onion in hot olive oil and when it turns translucent add the chorizo and bacon with a sprinkle of crushed chilli. The pimentón in the chorizo will start to turn the onions an orange colour.
When this happens stir in the garlic (I used fresh garlic from Perry Court Farm)
and the venison. I put the chilli powder mixture in now, so that the meat gets the flavour from it while it browns.
When the meat has taken some colour, mix in the green pepper with the fresh chilli peppers.
Follow them with the courgette,
and then stir in the mushrooms and tomatoes. Squeeze in the tomato purée and anchovy paste, before adding the wine, vinegar and stock. Next sprinkle on and mix in the herbs and pimentón. I give this a couple of minutes to cook and taste before getting to the beans. It might need a bit more purée or crushed chilli (to taste).
The pinto beans go in last – I really like the texture of cooked dried pulses as opposed to tinned, which I find a bit soggy. For dried beans I use a pressure cooker, the beans need to soak for one hour and cook for 15 minutes, so it’s reasonably quick.
Cook the chilli for several hours at a low heat. I reccomend the oven, at about 120ºC, it’s gentle, even heat and the chilli won’t stick. Taste and stir about half way through and again towards the end. Don’t be afraid to add a bit more chill or red wine vinegar if it needs a bit of a kick.
Serve the venison chilli with corn tortillas or Basmati rice. I drank some Spanish red wine with mine – Pasico, a blend of Monastrell and Syrah grapes.
Venison chili is a definite fall favorite for me! Looks great!
Thanks Tessa, I’d never made it before, but it did occur to me that it might be something the people in the Americas might have been eating a long time ago:
http://www.socastee.com/chili/chili_history.html
This sounds so good, and just the thing for colds, to be sure. I recently treated a shoulder of wild boar similarly to good effect. Chili and game seem to work together!
Yes very much so and I can imagine your wild boar tasted fantastic 😉
Ah, so that’s what I need to do with that venison in the freezer that’s always haunting me. (I have a hunter for a dad.) Looks good. Feel better!
Venison really went well in chilli, but it’s also very good in pies, if you don’t fancy steaks or roasts 😉
Made this yesterday. Pretty close to your recipe except I threw in some ground venison in addition to the cubes after my dad reminded me that, even though frozen, I needed to use all I had. Absolutely delicious with some chopped onion and Mexican cheese on top! Thanks!
How brilliant, I’m so glad you liked it 🙂
Hope you are feeling better now!
Thanks Ruth – much better 😉
You put quite of few of my favorite things in that chili, Mad. Right on for the fresh garlic!
Thanks – you already know how much I love garlic 😉
That is a very sexy chilli, even though you managed to put Bambi in with the beans:)
Thanks Roger – I might have been the hunter in that film 😉
Some very interesting flavours here to go around the block 🙂 ! Must seriously try!!
Thanks Eha
Well timed Mad Dog – I have a cold coming on and the local butcher has some venison in (I just didn´t really know what to do with it). Bet it was amazing!
I’ve been thinking about making it for ages – that and cassoulet, but I might burst if I cook that! The butcher chopped it up specially too and chose a very good piece 😉
I still haven’t found venison yet but I will! My seafood needs are all met now so it is time to find some game and venison is atop the list. This sounds like a great chili, MD, and with this being a very chilly morning, a bowl would work wonders.
Thanks John, I hope it doesn’t prove to hard to find. I don’t remember seeing venison in shops or butchers here when I was a child, but there’s been a huge surge in interest in the last 20 years, particularly since even farmed deer live outside and eat good food. On top of that the meat is very low in fat. It was a big part of the human diet back when we were hunter gathers 😉
¡Qué buena idea tuviste MD! Espero que ya te hayas recuperado del resfriado, pero si vuelves a estar enfermo, espero que vuelvas tener una inspiración similar 😉
Buen fin de semana!
Giovana Gracias, espero que tengas un buen fin de semana también 😉
A brilliant cold-cure – must remember it for the inevitable this winter!
Definitely – I saved a bit in the freezer for any reoccurrence 😉
Lovely, we had venison this week but it was meant to be for a rare frying, I was quite disappointed as the meant was more suited to stewing. I must admit though I wasn’t confident when I bought it vacuum it didn’t look as good as the brand we normally buy.
That’s a shame, it’s lovely when it’s a good piece, but not great if it’s the wrong cut 😦
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