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[–] 5 points 16 hours ago (6 children)

What are the ingredients? I'm mostly interested in the paste, the dark liquid and what's in the mason jar.

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  • [–] [S] 10 points 14 hours ago (5 children)

    A kidney beans.
    B turkey stock.
    C tomato sauce.
    E bacon grease.
    F salt (barely touched).
    G tiny tomatoes.
    H paprika.
    I tomato paste.
    J ground cumin.
    K chili powder.
    L ground coriander.
    M soy sauce.
    N cube steak venison chopped.
    O carrot.
    P garlic.
    Q ripe garden jalapenos.
    R Onion.

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  • [–] 6 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago) (4 children)

    Interesting recipe, looks delicious. I've always wanted to try venison chili. I've been perfecting my recipe for a few decades, and I think I've got it. It's close to yours, with a few notable exceptions.

    First, no onions or green peppers. Yellow, Orange, or Red peppers are acceptable.

    Other than the Onions, I'm cool with everything else, with some additions:

    • Cocoa powder
    • Flour
    • Red Wine,Cold

    I usually use a couple of heaping teaspoons of each powder, whisked into 4 oz of cold red wine, then added to the sauce after everything else is simmering. This little thing right here is my secret ingredient. Deepens the flavor (and color) like nothing else.

    For meat, I usually use an equal mix of ground beef and ground pork.

    I like my chili to be beany, so if I'm making a big batch (for freezing) I'll add 2 cans each of kidney, black, and red (or pink) beans. Even if it's a smaller batch, I'll use 4 cans.

    I've also recently learned that a couple of ounces of lemon juice near the end will smooth it out.

    I often add finely chopped spinach, early in the process so it has lots of time to break down. I often add frozen corn near the end.

    I tend to like it thick, and I like to scoop it up with tortilla chips, along with a spoon, but if you like it soupier, just add water, or beef broth.

    Soy sauce is an interesting ingredient, I've been reading that chefs are really leaning into it these days. I thought it might be Worcestershire sauce, which is also a good ingredient.

    I'll also use a can of diced tomatoes, and a can of crushed tomatoes, but I LOVE your use of cherry tomatoes. Those are my favorite tomatoes. Great on pizza, too, sliced in half.

    I just made a batch last week, and it's already gone.

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  • [–] [S] 4 points 12 hours ago*

    Worcestershire sauce is basically a mix of soy sauce and fish sauce as far as chili goes.

    I can't really do the cocoa powder. I lived in Cincinnati for a few months in the early '80s and that's a lot of trauma to deal with.

    Onions are absolutely essential in mine. My wife is very fond of cooked onions And if I left them out she'd complain about it. They add sweetness on a long cook and spice on a short cook. Which is why I normally I also top my chili with onions when it's all done. That's why I get both aspects of the onion. The sweetness of the cooked onions helps balance some of the acridness or savoriness of the chili caused by all the spices. But once in awhile I make a Colorado chili where you want all that savory and acridness. No onions there.

    I agree that if you're going to add bell peppers skip the green. As it was on this one I added jalapenos but I made sure they were ripe jalapenos because I don't want that green beans vegetableness in my chili unless I'm doing something like a poultry-based green chili. Which I never do.

    In venison chili it is very common to add orange juice to the cooking process. It can help mellow any gaminess.

    I'm not a fan of corn in most savory dishes.

    Spinach is almost non-existent in this house because my wife has kidney stone issues.

    If I want a thicker chili, I usually won't reduce the water or broth. I will add a cornstarch slurry to thicken it up. The exception again being the chili Colorado. That stuff can be almost dense.

    I don't normally add soy sauce to my chili but I forget I'd give it a go on this one. That's why I hardly ended up touching the salt. I salted the meat when I put it in for browning but I didn't add any extra. The soy sauce took care of that while adding some extra umami. But since it was on my mind, I almost added some MSG. Almost.

    I always end up making twice as much chili as I actually need for any given meal. Then I have to figure out the leftovers. Cornbread? Omelets?

    Edit, You mentioned red wine. I thought about it but I wasn't going to buy a whole bottle for that. That was part of the reason I went for the soy sauce. It adds that depth of flavor that red wine can contribute.

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