Chili con Bambi
This is a recipe for venison chili. It has been made successfully with roe deer, muntjac, and springbok.
Total Time
4 hours
Servings
4
250 g (½ lb) chopped onion
1–5 cloves garlic (to taste), finely chopped
1–5 tsp cayenne pepper (to taste)
4 tsp paprika or other milder powdered chile
5 tsp ground cumin
30 ml (2 tbsp) olive, corn, or sunflower oil (according to taste)
500 g (1.1 lb) minced (ground) stewing venison (minced lean leftovers from trimming are ideal)
500 ml dry cider or beef stock (how much you will need depends on how fast it boils away)
60 ml (4 tbsp) tomato purée
250 g (½ lb) finely-grated carrots
150 g (6 oz) finely-chopped celery
5 bay leaves
30 ml (2 tbsp) oregano
350 g (¾ lb) dried red kidney beans, soaked and cooked
1 stock cube (optional)
Salt
Sauté the onions, chiles, and garlic in the oil until well softened.
Add the powdered spices and cook for about 60 seconds.
60 seconds
Add the venison and stir well until it has all (more or less) changed colour.
Add sufficient dry cider or stock to cover, but not too deeply.
Add the stock cube (only if you are using cider), bay leaves, chopped celery, grated carrot and tomato purée, and stir well.
Simmer very gently for at least 3 hours, stirring occasionally and replenishing the liquid (with more cider/wine/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 3 or 4 hours.
3 hours
About 30–40 minutes before serving remove the bay leaves, add the oregano and the beans and stir well.
30–40 minutes
Adjust the salt as needed, stir well, and cook for another 40 minutes.
40 minutes
Serve with long-grain rice, or however else you like to serve chili.
- •Try adding small quantities of cinnamon, ground cloves and/or mace—experiment for yourself.
- •In a slow cooker it can be cooked for 8 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 20 minutes. They are then added to the chili early enough to cook for at least 2 hours. All this is tedious—it is therefore much better to use tinned ones as suggested in this recipe.