Guajillo Venison Chili
This is a mildly spicy chili with tangy Guajillo chile sauce and earthy venison. Of course you can substitute beef if you like, but the next closest thing to venison would be bison, which is available at most grocery stores these days. This is a thick, rich chili.
Servings 8 servings
Ingredients
- 1 Pound Ground Venison Bison is a great substitute!
- 1 Tbl olive oil
- 2 Tbl bacon fat Or more EVOO if you don't have bacon fat. You need extra fat for the lean meat.
- 1 Medium Onion, diced about 2/3 - 3/4 cup
- 4 cloves garlic, minced about 1.5 Tbl
- 1 tsp dry mustard optional
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 Tbl chili powder
- 2 Tbl flour any type is fine
- 1 Tbl tomato paste
- 2 Tbl ketchup optional, adds sweetness, use more tomato paste if you skip this
- 1 tsp each S/P
- 1 jar Herdez Red Guajillo cooking sauce, 3/4 jar (8oz) Use whole jar if you like a looser chili. Substitute red enchilada sauce, but it will not be the same dish w/out the guajillos.
- 1 can black beans, drained
- 1 can diced tomatoes with juice I prefer fire roasted!
- 2 Tbl Frank's Hot Sauce Or whatever hot sauce you prefer.
- serve with scallions, sour cream and cheese
Instructions
- Prep the onions and garlic.
- Put a large pot on medium heat and add EVOO. Sweat onions and garlic until onions are translucent.
- Add bacon fat and ground venison to veg and turn up heat to med hi. Sauté until venison starts to brown.
- Add flour, cumin, mustard and chili powder. Stir until flour is absorbed by meat, 3-4 minutes.
- Add tomato paste and ketchup, stir.
- Add Guajillo cooking sauce, stir.
- Add Frank's, tomatoes and beans, stir.
- Reduce heat to a very light simmer and cook for 15-20 minutes. Check S/P and sweet/savoury balance. Add more ketchup if you want it a little sweeter. Add a bit of worcestershire sauce if you want more savoury.
- Let chili stand off heat for a few minutes before serving. This gets better the next day!
Notes
Most groceries have Herdez sauces in the Latin/Mexican section. The Herdez Red Guajillo cooking sauce is tangy and just a little spicy - just the right balance for the venison.
If you substitute bison for venison, you'll probably need to add more S/P, more tomato paste and perhaps some worcestershire sauce. Bison is a very clean, rather bland meat.
You can add cayenne or other hot spices/sauces to this chili, but I think it will overpower the venison. I use Frank's for its vinegar note, not the heat. The point is to taste the venison, otherwise it's just plain ole chili!