I’ve been cooking chilli for years – and my recipe has evolved so here’s how I create a delicious venison chilli with rich, sweet smokey flavours over the open fire.
Whilst cooking a chilli for several hours can help the flavours develop, you’d be surprised just how quick you can get from a pile of ingredients to a tasty dish with this quick and easy method.
🌶 Here’s what you’re going to need…
- 500g of minced venison (you can use lean beef mince if you really must!)
- 1 x medium to large onion (red, white, spanish – whatever)
- 1 x red pepper
- Bunch of Fresh Coriander
- 4 x garlic cloves
- Chilli Powder (hot or medium depending on your preference)
- 1 or 2 fresh birdseye chillies
- 1 x tinned chopped tomatoes (or about 400gms of chopped fresh tomatoes)
- 1 x tinned kidney beans (the ones from tescos in chilli sauce work well!)
- 2 x tablespoon tomato puree
- Generous “squirt” of tomato ketchup
- lazy handful of dark chocolate buttons (or simillar)
- Salt & Pepper
- To serve…
- Soured Cream
- Cheese
- Sliced, pickled Jalapenos
- Nachos
Method
Preparation
-
- Light a fire!
- Finely chop the onion
- Cut the stalks off the coriander and finely chop them – keep the leaves for dressing at the end
- Peel and chop the garlic
- Deseed and coarse chop the red pepper
- Finely chop the birdseye chilli if you’re using one
- Grate some cheese
Cooking
I usually cook this dish over a wood fire – using the Kadai Cooking Bowl. The great thing about this set up is that you can raise and lower the bowl to get the desired temperature throughout the cooking process.
- Add a good splash of oil to the bowl and allow it to heat up
- When it’s hot, add the onion, pepper and a good teaspoon of chilli powder – and fry til the onions are softening but not getting crispy – usually 5-10 mins depending on the heat
- Add the chopped garlic, chopped coriander stalks and birdseye chilli (if you want HOT!) and fry for a further couple of mins
- Add the venison mince and another teaspoon of chilli powder – then keep it moving in the pan – til it’s all browned
- Pour in the chopped toms and the kidney beans and give it a good stir – and bring it to the boil
- At this point, you want to adjust the bowl so that you can keep things simmering – so just aim for steady small bubbles as you don’t want to burn it now!
- Let it cook down for about ten minutes – if you’re stuck for something to do, open a beer – and enjoy the fact you’re cooking outdoors…
- Add a couple of tablespoons of tomato puree and a handful of chocolate buttons (trust me!) and a squirt of tomato ketchup (I’ll explain the chocolate and ketchup at the end of this post!) and stir in – then leave to simmer for another 5-10 mins
- Taste… you really do need to taste at this stage. If you want it hotter (spicier) add some more chilli powder… If it’s too hot – you shouldn’t be eating chilli!
and that’s it…
To serve, grab a handful of nachos and put them in a bowl then spoon a good dollup of your Venison Chilli on the top. Add a handful of grated cheese, a spoon of soured cream and a good sprinkling of Coriander leaves…
If you want some extra zing – throw on some Jalapenos.
Eat… and Enjoy!
So what’s with the chocolate and ketchup..?
Tinned tomatoes can have a slight metallic taste so the ketchup counteracts this – and the chocolate just makes the “sauce” smooth and rich and pulls the dish together.
