venison chili recipe

A couple of weeks ago my Eagles wereknocked out of the NFL playoffsand before that, my beloved PSU Nittany Lions embarrassed themselvesin the Outback Bowl. Thankfully, while I drowned my sorrows last week, BS provided us with a look atoverpriced NFL beerand provided me with some time to regain my composure so that I could return reinvigorated for the final 2 weeks of the 2010/2011 season. The forecastfor the games this weekend isn’t too promising and where I live we are expecting single digit temperatures. Needless to say, I will not be heading out to watch any games, but instead thought I would make a big pot of the ultimate winter comfort food….chili.

I don’t know if I have ever come across a bad bowl of chili. There are so many different ways to prepare it and they all end up being pretty delicious. While doing a little research for this post, I confirmed that the word chili is Spanish and the first recorded use was in 1604. The rough translation was:“a bunch of tasty shit stewed together for awhile.” Partly inspired by ML’s recent post aboutgame meat, and the fact that I had access to locally hunted venison, I decided to go with a venison chili. This chili recipe started out a few years ago, straight from aField and Streamrecipe, but with small changes each attempt, I came to this week’s incarnation:

Venison and Ginger Beer Chili with Lime Cream

Ingredients:

2 pounds ofvenison,medium dice
1/4 pound ofslab bacon,diced
2 mediumyellow onions,diced
1 mediumred onion,diced
3-6 serrano peppersseeded and diced (or not seeded, depending how hot you like it)
1red bell pepperseeded and diced
1yellow bell pepperseeded and diced
1green bell pepper seeded and diced
2 tsphickory salt
3 cloves ofgarlicminced
1/4 cup ofbalsamic vinegar
4 tablespoonschili powder
1 tablespoonsweet paprika
1 tablespooncumin
1 tablespooncinnamon
1 tablespoonblack pepper
1 teaspoonmolasses
1 bottleGinger Beer
1 cupTamarind jam(optional)
1 24oz canwhole plum tomatoes
1 24oz cancrushed tomatoes
32 ozkidney beans

I know it sounds a little busy but it has a great depth of sweet, smoky and spicy flavors mixing together. In a deep soup pot, brown the venison in batches. Separately in a large pan on medium heat, render the fat down in the bacon before setting it aside and sweating out the onions, chilis and peppers. Stir the vegetables frequently and scrape the bottom of the pan. Cook everything with a dash of salt for 10 minutes or so before adding the garlic and vinegar. After that bubbles a little and comes up to temperature, add your spices and cook for another few minutes. In your soup pot, mix everything together and simmer on low heat. Add the honey, molasses, ginger beer and tomatoes. Stir well and bring to a boil before reducing heat back to a low simmer.

Sometime I also add a lime cream on top of the finished chili. Just mix together 1 clight sour cream, 1 tbsp oflime zest, tsp oflime juice, somecuminandcracked black pepper.

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