Never Enough Chili Recipes
 | Author:
Eileen Clarke, Rifles and Recipes
Author: Rifles and Recipes |
Eileen Clarke
Rifles and Recipes
It’s like the adage, you can’t be too rich or too thin. Well, you also can’t have enough chili recipes and, while we cut big rumps for roasting, briskets for corning, and grind burger for buns, meatballs and jerky, I am always on the lookout for a new chili. (It’s why I keep a nice little collection of chili peppers on hand.) For this recipe, I started with a tasty little spice mix, that can be used on everything from grilled venison and beef steaks to oven-roasted veggies and scrambled eggs, then augmented it with just a bit more deep, dark, chili flavor.
The three chilies in the spice mix vary in heat and basic flavor. New Mexico chilis are pretty low on the Scoville Scale (500-2500), and the smoked serrano aren’t a whole lot hotter (5,000) but the chipotles (2,500-22,000) which are smoked and dried jalapeños, can really vary. They can be pretty darned mild, but the chipotles I recently bought were more toward the top of the scale. And, in reality, growing weather, water—or lack of water—etc. can always alter the heat of peppers, of any variety. You can’t always take them at their word.
So, smell each of the ground chilies, carefully, before you start the Chili Mix, then add the ingredients to a pint-sized mason jar, in the order I listed them, leaving the potentially hottest to last, adding that ⅛ teaspoon at a time. Seal and shake the bottle with each new addition, carefully sniff, then dip a teaspoon in it and taste. This combo of mild, medium and medium hot chili in one dish is very tasty. But it needs to please your tolerance for heat.
PS: I originally made this with bear, but venison is a great substitute.
Frito Chili
Makes about 2 quarts
Ingredients
Chili Spice Mix (recipe below)
6 cups beef broth
¼ cup dehydrated chopped onion
4 teaspoons ground cumin
15 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups frozen corn, thawed
3½ ounce bag Fritos Chili Cheese Corn Chips
2-3 tablespoons oil
1 pound bear or venison meat, chopped in 1” cubes
Chili Spice Mix
¼ cup sweet paprika
4 teaspoons ground oregano
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1½ teaspoons onion powder
½ teaspoon ground New Mexico chili
¾ teaspoon ground smoked serrano chili
½ teaspoon ground chipotle chili pepper
Cooking
1. Start by measuring and combining all the ingredients of the Chile Mix in a bowl or pint Mason jar. In a 3-5 quart soup pot or Dutch oven, combine the beef broth, dehydrated onion, chili mix, extra cumin, black beans and corn. Turn the heat on high and give the pot a good stir. Pour the corn chips into a mini grinder and pulse them 3-4 times to crumble and add the corn chips to the pot. When the soup pot comes to a simmer, turn the heat down to low and continue on a low simmer.
2. In a large skillet, over medium heat, start 2 tablespoons of oil. When it’s hot, a wisp of smoke will swirl off the pan, then brown the cubed bear meat in 2-3 batches, adding more of the oil as needed. As each batch is done, transfer it to the soup pot. Let the chili come to a slow simmer, then turn the heat down low enough to keep it at a slow simmer.
3. Cook about 40 minutes, uncovered, to let the flavors develop. Serve with buttered corn muffins fresh from the oven.
Eileen was the game cooking columnist for Field & Stream and Successful Hunter for many years and still contributes game cooking tips and recipes to Outdoor News 4 times a year. She and her husband John Barsness, rifle columnist for Sports Afield, live in Townsend. Their books are available at https://www.riflesandrecipes.com or 406-521-0273.
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PhotoCredit: Photo Credits: Eileen Clarke
Image 1 Caption: Frito Bear Chili
Photo Credits: Eileen Clarke
