Bullseye 2620
Member
What makes this chili unusual and worth the effort is that if it is made properly, with every bite you will experience three distinct flavors -- first a tad sour or sharp from the acid in the tomatoes on the tip of the tongue, then a tad sweet from the maple syrup in the middle of the tongue, and then a little hot on the back of the tongue from the hot chili.
Ingredients
One No. 303 size can (15-16 oz.) each: light kidney, dark kidney, black, Great Northern (or Navy), and pinto beans.
4 No. 2-1/2 size cans (28 oz.) Furmano's diced tomatoes
1 pound coarse ground venison
2 pounds ground round, or chuck (90% lean)
6-8 fresh garlic cloves peeled and sliced paper thin
1-1/2 cups dark maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon (1.25 ml) ground cloves
1-1/2 teaspoons (7.5 ml) ground cinnamon
Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce, to taste
A little olive oil to saute the meat in three batches, in a large cast iron skillet, if available.
Preparation
Peel and slice the garlic paper thin.
Add the olive oil to the skillet, and get it hot. Add 1/3 of the sliced garlic. It should literally melt into the oil when you add it. Saute quickly, and add the venison. Brown partially, until meat is 1/2 to 2/3 done (still pink inside). Set aside. Repeat twice more, 1 pound each time, with the ground beef and the remainder of the garlic. Set aside in a bowl. As you cook each batch, break up the meat into approximately bite size "clumps" using a wooden spoon or some such.
Drain well 3 of the 4 cans of tomatoes. With a large stockpot, add the tomatoes, and set on medium heat. One pound at a time, add the partially cooked meat. Stir well. When it starts to bubble, reduce heat to simmer.
Now, open all five cans of beans. I hate the gooey bean gunk that they always seem to have, so, one can at a time I empty them into a colander under cool running water in the sink and rinse off the gooey bean gunk. Shake out excess water and add the beans to the simmering mixture of tomatoes and meat.
Let this simmer on as low heat as possible for about 15 minutes. Now, it is time to add the spices.
Add the maple syrup first, a little at a time, stirring well and tasting as you go until the desired level of sweetness is reached. This will be somewhere around one cup, give or take.
Now, add the cinammon, a little at a time, as above. You may use more than called for, but don't overdo it. You want this to taste like chili, not an apple pie. The correct amount is when the cinammon taste is just barely detectable.
Now, add the cloves, same as above. Again, you may used more than I have called for but definitely don't overdo it. The clove taste should be just barely detectable so that people say "wow, there's something in here other than the maple syrup and cinnamon -- what is it?"
Last comes the hot chili sauce. I like Sriracha (Rooster Brand) because it is incendiary and reliably consistent in terms of strength. Again, add this a little at a time, tasting as you go until the desired level of hot is reached. Better to underdo than overdo because you can always add a little more hot sauce after the chili has cooked and cured, but you can't remove it.
Let this cook over the lowest setting possible for another hour, with the lid on the pot.
Remove from the heat, and set aside to cool until it is room temperature (a few hours). Now, stir well, and taste. If it needs more sour, mix in a little apple cider vinegar until a spoonful of the chili is immediately sharp on the tip of the tongue. If more sweetness is needed, add in a little more maple syrup. If more hot is needed, a little more hot sauce.
These flavors will meld together and "cure" in the fridge overnight, and the result will amaze most people. It's subtle, but when done right, you will indeed get three tastes with every mouthful -- sour, sweet, and hot.
When you are ready to serve, you can do so either at room temperature or after you warm the individual bowls in the microwave.
Serve with saltines, and chopped onion and/or grated sharp cheddar cheese as garnishes.
This will serve 8 - 12 people easily. The recipe above fills my stock pot.
P.S.: You can use ground buffalo instead of the ground beef, but you will want to add a little bit more oil to the saute since the buffalo is so lean. For God's sake, do not attempt a lower fat version of this using ground chicken or turkey -- the stuff has too much water in it, no flavor, and the texture is plain nasty. Don't ask me how I know this.
Ingredients
One No. 303 size can (15-16 oz.) each: light kidney, dark kidney, black, Great Northern (or Navy), and pinto beans.
4 No. 2-1/2 size cans (28 oz.) Furmano's diced tomatoes
1 pound coarse ground venison
2 pounds ground round, or chuck (90% lean)
6-8 fresh garlic cloves peeled and sliced paper thin
1-1/2 cups dark maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon (1.25 ml) ground cloves
1-1/2 teaspoons (7.5 ml) ground cinnamon
Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce, to taste
A little olive oil to saute the meat in three batches, in a large cast iron skillet, if available.
Preparation
Peel and slice the garlic paper thin.
Add the olive oil to the skillet, and get it hot. Add 1/3 of the sliced garlic. It should literally melt into the oil when you add it. Saute quickly, and add the venison. Brown partially, until meat is 1/2 to 2/3 done (still pink inside). Set aside. Repeat twice more, 1 pound each time, with the ground beef and the remainder of the garlic. Set aside in a bowl. As you cook each batch, break up the meat into approximately bite size "clumps" using a wooden spoon or some such.
Drain well 3 of the 4 cans of tomatoes. With a large stockpot, add the tomatoes, and set on medium heat. One pound at a time, add the partially cooked meat. Stir well. When it starts to bubble, reduce heat to simmer.
Now, open all five cans of beans. I hate the gooey bean gunk that they always seem to have, so, one can at a time I empty them into a colander under cool running water in the sink and rinse off the gooey bean gunk. Shake out excess water and add the beans to the simmering mixture of tomatoes and meat.
Let this simmer on as low heat as possible for about 15 minutes. Now, it is time to add the spices.
Add the maple syrup first, a little at a time, stirring well and tasting as you go until the desired level of sweetness is reached. This will be somewhere around one cup, give or take.
Now, add the cinammon, a little at a time, as above. You may use more than called for, but don't overdo it. You want this to taste like chili, not an apple pie. The correct amount is when the cinammon taste is just barely detectable.
Now, add the cloves, same as above. Again, you may used more than I have called for but definitely don't overdo it. The clove taste should be just barely detectable so that people say "wow, there's something in here other than the maple syrup and cinnamon -- what is it?"
Last comes the hot chili sauce. I like Sriracha (Rooster Brand) because it is incendiary and reliably consistent in terms of strength. Again, add this a little at a time, tasting as you go until the desired level of hot is reached. Better to underdo than overdo because you can always add a little more hot sauce after the chili has cooked and cured, but you can't remove it.
Let this cook over the lowest setting possible for another hour, with the lid on the pot.
Remove from the heat, and set aside to cool until it is room temperature (a few hours). Now, stir well, and taste. If it needs more sour, mix in a little apple cider vinegar until a spoonful of the chili is immediately sharp on the tip of the tongue. If more sweetness is needed, add in a little more maple syrup. If more hot is needed, a little more hot sauce.
These flavors will meld together and "cure" in the fridge overnight, and the result will amaze most people. It's subtle, but when done right, you will indeed get three tastes with every mouthful -- sour, sweet, and hot.
When you are ready to serve, you can do so either at room temperature or after you warm the individual bowls in the microwave.
Serve with saltines, and chopped onion and/or grated sharp cheddar cheese as garnishes.
This will serve 8 - 12 people easily. The recipe above fills my stock pot.
P.S.: You can use ground buffalo instead of the ground beef, but you will want to add a little bit more oil to the saute since the buffalo is so lean. For God's sake, do not attempt a lower fat version of this using ground chicken or turkey -- the stuff has too much water in it, no flavor, and the texture is plain nasty. Don't ask me how I know this.
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