Venison Chili- Revised.

Proclaimed the state dish by the Texas legislature in 1977, it is one of the most famous local preparations and the topic of many heated conversations over ingredients and whether beans or tomatoes should be included. Recipes for chili date back to the mid-1800s, when a "bowl of red" was basic fare. Today, it can be a passion. Also called chili con carne, this is a variation of the thick soup traditionally made with highly seasoned ground beef and chiles. I have been told that the original chili recipe did not include beans, so simply omit them is you are not a bean-lover like me.

I like to experiment with a different type of bean every time I make chili. For this recipe, I have used both cannellini (white kidney) and black beans, each offering a different texture and flavor. Experiment to find your favorite.

I was fortunate to receive ground venison from a friend. I've never tasted better chili. Venison adds an incredible depth of flavor.

Like beef, venison is rich in protein, iron, and many B vitamins. However, venison tends to be lower in fat, especially saturated fat. Many of the vitamins and minerals found in venison are those we commonly lack in our American diets.

For example, a 4oz. serving of cooked venison provides 11% of the recommended daily value of potassium, essential for regulating blood pressure and maintaining proper fluid balance in our body. All this an more according to the World's Healthiest Foods.

And now, without further adieu...

2 notes: You can easily substitute ground beef. The chili tastes better the second day, making it an ideal "make-ahead" dish.

Ingredients

- 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 1 bell pepper, finely chopped
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 lb ground venison
- 2 jalapeno chiles, minced or to taste: Remove ribs and seeds to decrease heat. Only use 1 if you prefer mild.
- 1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp. chile powder, or to taste
- 3/4 tsp cayenne pepper- I use 1/4 tsp because we actually want to taste our food. 1/4tsp=mild, 1/2 medium-hot, 3/4 tsp for "RED HOT" as this recipe is called.
- 2 1/2 tsp ground cumin. I toast cumin whole, in a frying pan, then grind in a mortal and pestle. The aroma and flavor can not be beat!
- 1 Tbsp dried oregano
- 1 15 1/2oz can beans: recommendations: red kidney, cannellini, black beans. Last time I made this I used black
beans and it was my favorite so far
- 1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
- 1 6oz can tomato paste
- 3/1/2 cups beef stock- I use homemade and believe it adds depth of flavor, I'm sure store-bought is fine
- 1 1/2 tsp. salt

Technique

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the onion, bell pepper, and garlic until tender. Add the venison and cook through, breaking up the ground meat. Drain any liquid.

Stir in the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer, uncovered, for about 2 hours. Stir occasionally. Adjust the seasonings.

Please salt as you go, building the flavor all along the way. If you flavor while you are sweating the onion and pepper, you don't need all the salt to be added at the end. Adjust the seasoning accordingly. Let your tongue be the judge of how much salt you need.

If you've not cooked venison before, do not be alarmed by its deep red, almost purple appearance.

We have 2 favorite chili sides/preparations: homemade fry bread, and a variety of toppings: onion, bell pepper, shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, avocados- if you really want to treat yourself, put your chili, and toppings, on a pile of fritos or right into the frito bag (cut sideways) and you make another Texas favorite- FRITO PIE!

ENJOY!

MIA

I find myself sighing each night that I see my photos and recipes piling up- We've spent the last several weeks house-hunting and have been so blessed to find the perfect house for our family! With all the work I have ahead preparing to move in one month, I'm sad to say there will be little time for blogging. I have had requests to redo my venison chili recipe, and I will happily do so....until then enjoy all of your cooking adventures in the kitchen! I want to hear all about them....

New Format and re-written chili recipe coming soon!.....

Sorry about the LOOOONG paragraph

Please excuse the format of my last blog post- I don't know what happened. I thought that I had it in a format that did not induce mental strain. I will try to correct it. And I'm still learning how to post this stuff- perhaps that deserves a blog of itself entitled, "How to run a blog." Problem is, 5 year olds know how to do this and I don't!

RED-HOT VENISON CHILI.....my way

Proclaimed the state dish by the Texas legislature in 1977, it is one of the most famous local preparations and the topic of many heated conversations over ingredients and whether beans or tomatoes should be included. Recipes for chili date back to the mid-1800s, when a "bowl of red" was basic fare. Today, it can be a passion. Also called chili con carne, this is a variation of the thick soup traditionally made with highly seasoned ground beef and chiles. I have been told that the original chili recipe did not include beans, so simply omit them if you are not a bean-lover like me. I like to experiment with a different type of bean each time I make chili. For this recipe, I have used both cannellini (white kidney) and black- both offer different flavor and texture. Experiment to find your own favorite. I was fortunate to have actual venison, from a friend of mine, for this recipe, but I'm sure beef would be fine. Venison adds incredible depth of flavor. Like beef, venison is rich in protein, iron and many B vitamins. However, venison meat tends to be more lean and lower in fat, especially saturated fat. Many of the vitamins and minerals found in venison are those that we commonly lack in our American diets. For example, a 4 oz serving of cooked venison provides 11% of the recommended daily value of potassium, essential for regulating blood pressure and maintaining proper fluid balance in your body. All this and more according to the World's Healthiest Foods..... And now, without further adieu, Chili Ingredients: Serves @ 8 INGREDIENTS - 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil - 1 large onion, finely chopped - 1 bell pepper, finely chopped - 6 garlic cloves, minced - 2 lb ground venison - 2 jalapeno chiles, minced (Remove ribs and seeds to decrease heat, only use one if you prefer more mild). - 1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp. chile powder (amount can also be decreased per taste) - 3/4 tsp cayenne pepper- I used 1/4 tsp because we actually want to taste our food, I'd say 1/4 for mild-med, 1/2 for hot and 3/4 tsp for "RED-HOT" as the recipe is called - 2 1/2 tsp ground cumin (I toast mine whole in a frying pan first, then crush them with mortal and pestle), the flavor difference is incredible! - 1 Tbsp dried oregano - 1 15 1/2 oz can red kidney beans, drained Note: Black beans are very tasty - 1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes - 1 6-oz can tomato paste - 3 1/2 cups beef stock-homemade, or store-bought is fine - 1 1/2 tsp salt Technique: Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the onion, bell pepper, and garlic until tender. Add the venison and cook through, breaking up the ground meat. Drain any liquid. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer, uncovered for at least 2 hours. Stir occasionally. Adjust seasoning. Please salt as you go, building the flavor all along the way. If you flavor while you're sweating the onion and pepper, you don't need all the salt added at the end- adjust accordingly. Let your tongue be the judge of how much salt you need. If you've not cooked with ground venison, don't be alarmed by it's deep red, almost purple, appearance. This chili will also taste even better the next day- so make it ahead if you have the time. Sides: Many options here. Our 2 favorites are homemade fry bread and a variety of toppings: onion, bell pepper, shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, maybe some avocado. If you REALLY want to treat yourself, put your chili along with the toppings on top of a pile of fritos- or right into the bag of opened fritos- and there you will have another Texas favorite- Frito Pie! Enjoy!

Rigatoni with Steak

Monday night's dinner has been my favorite all week. And interesting enough, the only one I didn't take a picture of. However, I want to tell you about this dinner for many reasons.

1) It's delicious. I'm on a Giada di Laurentiis kick right now because after meeting her, I was determined to try some of her recipes. Well, this is outstanding.

2) Two words: steak and pasta- who does not LOVE that combo? You can serve this to ANYONE and they will love it.

3) The sauce can be made a day ahead- which I discovered the next day as I was eating the leftovers for lunch. I actually thought the entire meal tasted better the next day. ANY meal that can be made a day ahead is a success in my book.

4) Pricy steaks made to go the distance. We used 2 thin rib-eyes but you can use 1 inch thick if you like. There are times we want to serve steak when we have guests. But good steak is expensive. Here's a great way to be generous enough with the steak but still budget-friendly.

5) I use one of my favorite things in the whole world: CHIANTI! 3/4 cup for the sauce, and the rest is to be enjoyed while you eat!

This meal tastes like a ragu. Pat thought I worked on it all day. From beginning to end, it took me about 30 minutes. Enjoy!

Ingredients

- 2 Tbs olive oil
- 2 12 oz. rib-eye steaks (I used thinner ones....size is important when it comes to cooking time)
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 onions, thinly sliced ( I used only 1 and thought it was fine)
- 2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced (julienne, ya'll)
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 3/4 cup dry red wine ( I use Chianti)
- 2 cups homemade or storebought marinara sauce (Giada's homemade Marinara recipe is a good one, I always have some in my freezer)
- 1 cup low sodium beef broth (I had some in my freezer, but if you buy more than one cup, the rest will freeze well. Pour into large muffin tins and place in freezer. Once frozen, transfer to freezer bag to add into soups, stews or making this again!)
- 12 oz dried rigatoni ( I used handmade fresh rigatoni stuffed with ricotta which I purchased for the occasion-dried works well too)

Technique:

Heat the oil in a large, heavy frying pan over high heat. Sprinkle the steaks with salt and pepper. Cook the steaks until they are seared and brown but still rare in the center, about 3 min. per side. (I cooked my thin rib-eyes for 1 min. per side. That's all they needed- nice sear over high heat for a med-rare center. You should hear sizzling and there should be smoke- othewise you're not doing it right. HIGH HEAT- loud hissing! Windows opening. And don't touch them on the pan...and don't let any guy come along and poke at them either. Just let them sit there and get happy until they are ready to be flipped. REMEMBER that protein raises 5 degrees off the heat. It will cook more as it rests on the plate. ) Transfer the steaks to a plate and set aside to cool completely (this step can be done earlier in the day.) Add the onions and carrots to the same pan and saute over medium heat until the onions are translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and oregano, and saute for 1 minute. Add the wine and simmer for 1 minutes. Add marinara sauce and broth. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat to allow the flavors to blend, about 10 minutes. Season the sauce to taste with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, trim off any fat from steaks, then cut the steaks into bite-zie pieces and set aside. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add rigatoni and cook according to package instructions. I like to cook pasta 1-2 min. less than recommended so that it will finish cooking in the sauce. Stir pasta while boiling to prevent sticking. Drain pasta.

Toss rigatoni, reserved steak pieces, and any accumulated juices from the steaks, with the sauce to coat. Transfer pasta to bowls and sprinkle with freshly grated parmesan cheese and serve with some crusty bread to soak up that heavenly juice!. I served the dinner with a side salad of greens with some pan sauteed zucchini/summer squash, with a splash of white wine vinegar to deglaze the pan before pouring the veggies onto the salad to wilt the greens a bit.

This meal is well worth the effort.

Happy Birthday Rory!

Monday we celebrated Rory's 4th birthday. As he likes to tell people, "I went to bed 3 and when I woke up.....I was 4!"

Traditionally in my family, you got to pick your birthday dinner. There were a lot of birthdays celebrated in my home, but I always remember stories of my older brother, Jim, and how he loved train cakes as a young boy. Following that tradition, I make train cakes for my boys.

I also asked Rory what he would like for breakfast. He chose scones (I was going to make them anyway- he's a mind-reader, and there was a picture of them on the table when I asked...)

So I give you Rory's birthday menu:

For breakfast, classic cream scones with currants.

Dinner: Rigatoni with Steak c/o Giada di Laurentiis with a little help from yours truly.

Classic Cream Scones

Yields 8 large scones.

These plump, moist scones are rich and subtly sweet. You can have a batch of them ready in the oven in 10 minutes. I have yet to discover or develop a better recipe for scones. While being moist enough, these have the dry crumbly texture you would expect from a scone. This in NOT a muffin or a piece of cake- it's a SCONE! Try this- you will love it.

Ingredients:

- 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

- 1/3 cup sugar

- 1 Tbs. baking powder

- 1/2 tsp. salt

- 1/2 cup dried currants (optional) AND dried blueberries are an EXCELLENT substitute

- 6 Tbs cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

- 3/4 cup heavy cream

- 2 large egg yolks, lightly beaten

- 1 large egg, lightly beaten wt 1 Tbs milk for glazing (omit milk if you want a darker brown)

- granulated sugar for sprinkling (optional)

Here we go: Technique

Position an oven rack in the lower third of your oven and heat to 400. Line heavy baking sheet with parchment. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the currants, tossing until evenly distributed and coated with flour. Cut in the butter with pastry blender or with 2 knives, or you can even pulse briefly in a food processor. The butter will be pea-size when done. NOTE: At this point, I put the FP bowl back in the fridge to get cold again. WHY? When you touch the butter, the heat from your hands starts to melt it. The secret to delicious scones, flaky biscuits and pie crusts, puff pastry...is COLD BUTTER. Cold butter creates pockets of steam in the cooking process which helps your achieve your flaky buttery deliciousness with certain baked goods. When I want to prep these scones the night before, I assemble the ingredients and let them chill overnight.

In a small bowl, stir the cream and egg yolks just to blend. Add this all at once to the flour mixture. Stir with a fork to begin combining the wet and dry ingredients and then use your hands to gently knead the mixture together until all the dry ingredients are absorbed into the dough. Gather into a moist shaggy ball. DO NOT OVERKNEAD. Trust me here. Bring the dough together a few large fistfulls at a time and then merge them all together but don't make pizza dough out of this because you're going to melt that butter with your sweaty hands! Gather it together as best you can and don't sweat the little crumbs. The dough is sticky but benefits from minimal handling.

Set the rough ball in the center of the prepared baking sheet and pat it gently into a round, about 1 inch thick, 7 inches in diameter. The dough should behave well for you, it just might not look as pretty as you think it should. Do not judge a dough ball by it's appearance! Don't be tempted to make the round any flatter.

With a sharp knife or pastry scraper, cut the round into 8 wedges. Separate the wedges. Brush the scones with the egg-milk glaze. I omitted the milk which accounts for the dark exterior- that's how I like them. Don't use all that glaze btw.....add the rest to your eggs later. Sprinkle the scones with some sugar if you like.

Bake until the scones are deep golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of a wedge comes out clean, 18-22 min. Start checking at 18 min. Mine take about 21 min. Yes, I am precise when it comes to these things. The scone is sacred in this Irish family.

Let the scones cool on a rack for about 15 min. before serving. These are great with fresh butter or lemon curd- I've tried both (not together) and like them- it just depends on what mood I'm in.

This recipe doubles beautifully.