Venison is one of the healthiest and most environmentally sustainable meats available and we have a plentiful supply of it here in the British isles, but we don’t utilise it anywhere near as much as we could.
In the countryside of Northwest England you can find Roe, Red and Sika deer and their venison can be found on sale in our high-street butchers, online from companies like the Organic butchery or even in supermarkets like Booths.
Schools and hospitals have put it on their menus due to its health and environmental credentials and because it has a lower carbon footprint than beef, indeed the Vegan Society’s carbon calculator estimates that culled venison emits only 27% of the CO2 emissions of beef and a campaigner for Greenpeace, Paul Morozzo, has said that “for meat eaters, wild venison does offer a viable alternative to animals fed on industrially produced feed that’s destroying forests in Brazil”.
All-in-all picking venison as a meat when you do your shopping is an ethical decision to make and I hope this recipe makes that choice easier, it’s also a great recipe to serve to people who ‘don’t like game’, as they will barely be able to tell it’s not beef!
Ingredients:
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
1kg of minced Venison
4 large jalapeno chillis, or if you can get hold of them Ancho chillis work very well
1 large red onion
1 large bulb of garlic
2 table spoons of cumin
1 table spoon of oregano
150g chilli paste
3 cans of chopped tomatoes
2 cans of kidney beans
700ml stock
(Optional) grated cheese
Stock, if you can find game stock that’s obviously the best stock to use with this recipe but chicken will suffice, of course the best stock is made from the bones of the animal, Piper’s farms sell Venison bones and their website features simple instructions for making it.
Utensils needed:
Chopping board
Sharp knife
Tin opener
Large saucepan
Wooden spoon
Dish or bowl
Mixing jug
Cheese grater
Garlic crusher
Cullender
Wine glasses
Wine and Music Pairings
Before starting on your cooking journey (this should take about 1½ hours to make) it’s a good idea to pour yourself and your guests a glass of wine and put some music on, as alway I like to pair my recipes with a good wine and pick out a couple of upbeat tracks too.
For chillis you can’t go much wrong with a Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Burgundy or a nice, full-bodied Bourdeaux, D Byrne & Co of Clitheroe have a huge range (see the screenshot below) and as for music I’ve recently been going through the Beta Band’s back catalogue.
They seem to have been mostly forgotten now but in their time released some truly wonderful tracks (and some down-right weird ones!), She’s the one, B+A and Dogs got a bone are particularly notable.
Instructions
1: Dice the onion and chillis, crush the garlic and rinse the kidney beans in the cullender.
2: Heat the largest sauce-pan you own to medium-high and add a few splashes of olive oil.
3: Add the venison, season with salt and pepper, crumble and cook until browned through, this should take about 5 to 10 minutes, once browned and ready transfer this to the bowl for later.
4: Splash a little more oil in the pan and toss in the onion and chillis, stirring them until softened and starting to brown.
5: Making a kind of well in the middle of the onions next add the garlic, let it cook for 1 minute and then mix together.
6: Next add the oregano and cumin, stir this constantly for about a minute to make sure it’s ‘toasted’ and thoroughly mixed in.
7: Add all three tins of tomatoes and the chilli paste and mix well.
8: Now add the venison, stock and 1 tin of beans and mix together thoroughly.
9: Bring to a simmer and cook for 1 hour with the lid off, then for a further hour with the lid on, occasionally stirring.
10: Once cooked add the final tin of beans, heat through and voilà, your venison chilli is ready!
“I bring gold from England for wines”
Serving
I prefer to serve chillis with grated cheese (tbh I’ll find an excuse to put cheese on anything), this will usually be cheddar or whatever’s in the fridge, but if you can get hold of Habanero or even better Oaxaca (pronounce ‘wuh-hawk-uk) cheese this is a game-changer, you’ll never want to use anything else.
It’s very hard to get hold of though so grated cheddar will do, of course it’s up to you what you serve it with; rice, buttered bread or a jacket potato, it will store very well in the fridge and this recipe makes 6 to 8 servings so you’ll have enough to experiment with.
All cooking times and ingredient measures are approximate, in particular seasoning, you may prefer a milder chilli so alter measurements to taste, why not experiment and see what works best for you?
If you like this recipe please let me know and look at my others, and when I’ve published enough I’ll put them together in a collection, j’espère que vous apprécierez!
A B-H
(Nov 2024)
Northwest Nature and History 