Lucky me-I needed to cook chili for about 30 people. Three things came to my mind: a new recipe to try, I didn’t want to use beans, and John was going to be my lackey. I found a recipe for an old-fashioned chili that is made with wild game and the meat is cut into half-inch chunks or smaller and no beans.
Now to get John organized. I have a habit of doing more than one job at a time, so as John was doing some of the chopping for the chilli, I was making a cake and double checking his progress. Everything was moving along quite well when I asked John if there was any cold coffee on the stove and if he could measure out a cup. I needed the cup for the cake. A few minutes pass and I go over to grab the coffee and its gone! Okay where is the coffee? John’s reply was “I thought you wanted me to put it in the chili!” The chili was excellent.
Venison Chili
I used a mixture of ground venison and beef. I didn’t have any whole pieces of venison or beef in my freezer. The recipe asks for a Red Chile Sauce. I made my own (very easy), it was not hot but make sure you wear rubber gloves when working with the chiles. It does add a nice flavour.
2 pounds venison shoulder, or beef chuck, cut into 1/2-inch chunks or smaller or use ground
1/3 cup sunflower seed oil
1 large onion chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 16-ounce can tomatoes with juice
1 1/2 cups Red Chile Sauce (recipe below)
12 ounces beer
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp dried oregano
Salt
**1 cup of coffee (optional)
Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or large heavy pot over high heat. Add the meat and sauté for 5 to 7 minutes, or until lightly brown. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 5 minutes, or until the onion is translucent. Add the tomatoes and their juices, the Red Chile Sauce, beer, cumin, oregano, and salt. Add water to almost cover. Cook for 1 hour, adding water to keep the chili at a stew-like consistency. It will be done after an hour, but it will keep getting better as it simmers. If the chili is too runny thicken it with either some flour or cornstarch mixed in a little water.
Red Chile Sauce
You can use a single type of Mexican dried chile or a combination. I used some from my garden that I had dried and also had a small bag of the anchos. Remember no heat—no seeds.
3 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1 onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
10 assorted dried chiles, SEEDED
Bring all of the ingredients to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat. Decrease the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the chiles are soft. Put the chile mixture and cooking liquid into the container of a blender or use an immersion blender. Blend until pureed. The sauce will keep in the refrigerator for up to a week.
***Before adding the sauce, to the chili, taste test to see if it has any heat, then add accordingly.
