Venison/Deer Chili

Since getting venison from a friend's parent, I was looking up recipes to make with venison. I saw on Food Network website on a venison chili recipe by Emeril Lagasse. I really like his cooking and watched his show when it was on the Food Network. I decided to make his recipe but with a few tweeks—I added kidney beans, carrots, ground pork, and a bit more chili and cayenne pepper (I like my chili a bit spicier). I like the protein from the kidney beans and added carrots for more vegetables than just onions. The ground pork is to give some added fat since venison is very lean. The trick to making sure that the venison does not have a gamey taste is to brine the meat first in milk then a brine solution (I used salt, bay leaf, pepercorns, and water). This helps also make the meat a little tender. The resulting venision chili I made was very flavorful, the meat was still a bit chewy but much better than if I just chopped the venison meat without brining it. The use of tomatoes, the beans, and spices help to also add flavor and mask a bit of the venison smell/taste. Overall, if you have lots of Venison or have some this is worth a try. Recipe below.


Venison chili
Serves 6
adapted from Emeril Lagasse recipe on Food Network website

Ingredients
1-1 1/2 pounds leg or shoulder of venison, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1/4 lb. ground pork
1 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup of diced carrots
2 garlic cloves crushed
1 cup water
2 tablespoon tomato paste
2 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 chopped plum tomatoes
1 cup beef stock
Salt and pepper
Sour Cream
Grated cheddar cheese

Brining the venison meat:
Ingredients:
Milk
1 quart water
2 tablespoons cracked peppercorns
2 tablespoons salt1 bay leaf

Directions for bringing:
First put the Venison meat in a bowl and add just enough milk to cover the meat. Cover and refrigerate it for 5-6 hours. Drain the milk and wash the Venison meat. Then in another bowl add the water, cracked peppercorns, bay leaf and salt. Place the venison meat and cover in refridgerator for 6-8 hours. then drain and pat dry. Cut into desired chunks per recipe.

Directions for Venison chili:

In a dutch oven on medium heat, add oil then add the venison to the hot oil in the pan and cook, stirring occasionally and in batches if necessary, until well seared. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Add the onions, carrots and garlic and saute over medium-low heat until tender.

Stir in the water and the tomato paste. Bring the mixture to a boil. Stir in the dry spices, chopped tomatoes and the beef stock. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Simmer uncovered for 35 to 45 minutes, or until the sauce is very thick and flavorful.

Add the venison to the pot and cook, stirring, until just cooked through and hot, 3 to 4 minutes. Check the seasoning and serve with the sour cream and grated cheese. Serve warm.

A flavorful and tasty way to use venison/deer meat.