Eddy’s Chili
Cool — now, downright cold! — weather has set in across the United States. Time to break out our Soup, Stew, Gumbo, and Chili recipes. Chili, especially, seems perfect on cold days. It’s delicious fresh and seems to get better over subsequent days, so we can cook a large batch and enjoy as a main dish or as a side for a week! This chili freezes well, so I portion it out and store in the freezer to enjoy later. If I have guests or children in town, I simply pull out the portions I need.
As sportsmen and women, we harvest a fair amount of older game and will probably have a lot of that venison ground. Perfect for chili. I also use my burger in sausage and have been making sausage with an Italian blend of spices the last number of years. I add pork butt for fat and use that sausage in a variety of dishes/recipes. But for my chili grind I add twenty percent beef. My processor uses beef plate which is a cut by the brisket and works really well. Everyone needs a ‘go to’ chili recipe. Here’s mine:
Eddy’s Go-To Chili Recipe
Cook this “as is” a time or two, then start making adjustments to your and your family’s taste. I made my last batch with chili ground sirloin. Instead of dried chili pepper, I boiled a few de-seeded, dried Guajillo and de-seeded dried Ancho peppers, pureed them in my small food processor and added to my chili! The individual spices and herbs can be adjusted based upon availability.
The food we eat is the food we enjoy. Don’t be afraid to add good beef or pork to your game!
Chili Recipe
Eddy Claycomb
INGREDIENTS
2 lb. Venison, Chili ground
1 lb. Beef or pork, Chili ground
Salt + salt to taste
4 Tbsp. olive oil, divided use
1 large onion rough chopped
3 Tbsp. fresh chopped garlic
6 Tbsp. chili powder
2 Tbsp. cumin
1 Tsp. smoked paprika
1 Tsp. sweet paprika
1 Tbsp. Mexican oregano
Dash of ground cloves
Dash of turmeric
2 cans whole peeled tomatoes, 24-oz. can (use diced also)
1 can tomato puree
1 can Rotel
1 6-oz can Tomato paste
2-3 fresh tomatoes or 10-15 cherry tomatoes
2 jalapeño peppers, de-seeded and diced
3 serrano peppers, de-seeded and diced
Water
Serve with suggestions:
Sour cream
Red onion or scallions
Avocado
Jalapeno
Cilantro
Cheddar cheese
Tortilla chips or Fritos
DIRECTIONS
Season pork and beef liberally with salt.
Heat oil in pot over medium-high heat in a large Dutch oven or heavy bottomed pot until shimmering.
Add meat and cook, stirring with wooden spoon to break meat up into smaller pieces until no longer pink. About half way done, add half the onions. Drain any oil or fat that cooks out.
While meat is browning, sauté onions in another pan until translucent. Add garlic and cook for another minute. Add fresh tomatoes and one of the jalapeno and two of the serrano’s. Cook until peppers and tomatoes are soft, then add to meat.
Add diced or peeled tomatoes, tomato puree, tomato paste and Rotel.
If you used peeled, whole tomatoes, periodically break them up.
Add half the chili powder.
Add the spices.
Add additional water as needed.
Allow chili to simmer for 2 to 4 hours.
Taste test every 30 min. and add more chili powder to taste. Same with salt and heavy ground pepper. A bit more cumin may be needed, varying with the amount of meat used.
Add half the remaining Jalapeno and half the remaining serrano after about 30 minutes of simmering. Decide after an hour of simmering to add more peppers. It can get hot in a hurry!
Serve with extra goodies!
