Chile con Venado
a.k.a. Chili con Bambi
Beef dishes made with venison have less fat and more flavour.
This one is a favorite of ours.
INGREDIENTS
- 500 gm Minced/ground Venison
- 350 gm Red kidney beans (1 large tin - drained) (Texans may omit the beans!)
- Dry hard cider or beef stock
- 250 gm Finely-chopped Onion
- 4 Tbs Tomato Purée
- 0-5 Cloves Garlic (to taste) Chopped
- 1-5 Tsp Cayenne Pepper (to taste - 5 is quite hot) or Tabasco
- 4 Tsp Paprika or other milder powdered chile
- 5 Tsp Ground Cumin
- 5 Tsp Oregano
- 3-5 Bay Leaves
- (Possibly small quantities of cinammon, ground cloves and/or mace - experiment)
- 1-2 Tbs Oil
- 150 gm Finely-chopped Celery
- 250 gm Grated Carrot
- Beef stock cube, salt, freshly ground black pepper
PREPARATION
Using venison in chili has a long tradition behind it. President Lyndon Johnson ate no other chili after his heart attack because of its lower fat content.
Sauté the onions and garlic in the oil until well softened then add the spices and cook for a minute or so. Add the venison and stir well until it has all (more or less) changed colour. Cover with dry cider or stock, but not too deeply. Add the stock cube (if you are using cider), grated carrot, chopped celery, bay leaves and tomato purée and simmer very gently for at least three hours, stirring occasionally and replenishing the liquid (with more cider/stock or just water) if it gets too dry.
The ideal is to have the sauce with little separate liquid when it is served - but not dry enough to scorch. It may be simmered on top of the stove, or in a very low oven, or in a slow cooker. The sauce is edible after about 40 minutes but is infinitely better flavoured and textured after three or four hours. In a slow cooker it can be cooked for eight hours. The flavour is even better if it is cooked, allowed to cool overnight, and reheated for 30 or 40 minutes but this is a council of perfection and not really necessary.
[Dried kidney beans are so indigestible as to be considered poisonous unless they are boiled briskly (a slow cooker will not do) for at least twenty minutes to destroy the indigestible phytohaemagglutinin that they contain. If you do use dried kidney beans they must be soaked overnight and then boiled by themselves for at least twenty minutes. They are then added to the chile early enough to cook for at least two hours. All this is tedious - it is therefore much better to use tinned ones as suggested in this recipe.]
About 30-40 minutes before serving (or before leaving the chile for its overnight stand) remove the bay leaves (if you can find them), add the drained beans and adjust the salt (i.e. taste it and add more salt if you think it needs it). Serve with rice or however else you like your chile con carne. Serves 4-6.
This is a recipe page on the James Bryant (G4CLF) Web-site.
Return to James Bryant's Recipe Index
Return to James Bryant's Home Page
Number of visits to this page:
