Syracuse.com - Post-Standard outdoors writer takes a stab at making venison chili

[HuntingNY-News]

My wife was out of town and I have plenty of meat in the freezer from the deer I shot this fall. I thought it'd try it out.

There’s a first time for everything. This weekend was my first attempt at making chili.

My wife was out of town and I had plenty of venison in the freezer thanks to the deer I shot this fall. I wanted to serve it Saturday evening it to several of friends who were coming over to play cards.

I called my friend Jeff for some advice.

“Ok, this is chili. It’s easy. You can’t mess it up,” he said.

First, he said, get your frying pan “real hot,” put a little oil on it and then add the venison, along with some chopped onions and peppers. Jeff cautioned to leave the venison a little undone, that it would finish cooking once I put it in the sauce.

In a separate pot, I dumped one can of stewed tomatoes and one can of pureed tomatoes and started to heat that up. I also added four cans of beans – two each of chili and red beans. I also poured in one packet of chili sauce flavoring.

I added the browned venison, onions and peppers into the pot and stirred. After a few minutes I gave it a taste. It was bland. I added another full packet of chili sauce flavoring. Still bland. I added about a half cup of chili powder that I found in the cupboard.

I called another friend, Tom. He advised that I put in a couple tablespoons of garlic powder, and the same with cumin – and to add some taco flavor mix as well. He also said he likes to use white pinto beans.

It was at that point that I realized a chili truism. No two chilis – or should I say chili makers -- are alike. Jeff had advised against too much cumin. It didn’t matter, though, because I didn’t have any.

Finally, I called my wife. She suggested I add some curry, which I did. Also, some ground cayenne pepper, which made me sweat. I figured I was finally on the right track so I stopped there.

The chili simmered for more than an hour before my buddies arrived. Everyone had a bowl, and most had two. “Not bad,” was the consensus.

The following morning at church, I told another friend about my efforts.

“You didn’t add corn? I always put that in. Some sugar, too,” he said.

Hmm. Maybe next time.

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog