Leah Christensen Asked For It...

at least indirectly.

Kihe Blackeagle's Three-Meat Chili

copyright Mike C. Baker / Kihe Blackeagle (Original version "published" to the FidoNet SCOUTER echo *mumble* years ago... most will be able to identify the major ingredient added later in the evolution of the following.)

Choose your usual favorite chili seasoning, in an amount you would normally use for two pounds of meat.

Select one to one-and-a-quarter pounds of three different meats:  I first built this recipe using a pound each of ground beef, ground venison, and ground pork.  The venison should have strifling, tendons, and such removed.  A quick way to make this possible is to put the still mostly-frozen hunk o' meat into a blender and pulse it  (works really well for slightly freezer burned venison roast or steaks...)  I achieved an interesting alternative by taking ham and dicing it to approximately 1/4 inch cubes and using that instead of the venison.  A mix of coarse and more finely ground meats works best for me.

Select one large onion or two mediums, peel, cut off roots and any green stem, chop remander coarsely.  If you have access, do the same with two or three fresh cloves of garlic -- "elephant" or "New Mexico Giant" is better.  If you do not have fresh garlic, a teaspoon or so of garlic powder or dried minced garlic is suggested / encouraged. 

If you like, some well-chopped or very thinly sliced celery (say up to a half-cup for this amount of meat; YMMV) adds a interesting twist - if used, slice or chop cross-grain, not lengthwise, and no more than a quarter of an inch thick on the initial cut.  The result should leave no intact "strings".

Select additional spices as desired.  I suggest powdered garlic, powdered onion, some additional chili powder, freshly-powdered thyme (the dried leaves crushed between your palms are better than commercially-prepared powders for most stews and soups), mild paprika for color (or hotter if you prefer that), and a bit of powdered ginger.   Leave the salt on the table for those who actually want some added.

one can of beer, up to say 16 ounces.  I use bock or dark when I have it, Stag when I can get some, and luck-of-the-fridge otherwise.  (This is one of the ONLY good purposes I know of for Budweiser!)

two or three cans of tomato sauce; a can of V-8 *in addition* to the sauce.  I use no-salt-added sauce.

One can of meat broth / consomme / stock, preferably one matching a meat already in the pot (although I have fallen back on chicken broth before).  Lacking meat broth, a boullion cube and an extra cup of water - preferably liquefying the bouillion before beginning the rest of the cooking, or at least in parallel with browning the meats.

ASSEMBLY:  In a large cast iron pot or deep skillet (cast iron is king for chili, IMNSHO)

brown the meat thoroughly (sufficient to safely consume it without additional cooking, esp. if using game meats).  Start with whichever meat yields the most natural grease, end with the driest / leanest meat.  Remove the browned meat, DO NOT DRAIN (I usually just scootch it to the outer edges of the pot).

Sautee onion and any fresh garlic in the remaining drippings until translucent.  If used, add the celery to this step about halfway throught the sautee.

 If you feel you HAVE to remove grease, do it now by lowering the temperature and carefully spooning out the "excess".  For this amount of meat, leave at LEAST a couple of tablespoons of oil/grease.

Deglaze the bottom of the pot / skillet, where the onion has just been sauteed, with a couple of ounces of beer.  The adventurous have been known to try other beverage alcohols for this step - cheap blended Scotch worked for me.

 Mix remaining grease and all already-cooked ingredients, raise heat as you add sauce, beer, juice, and broth plus as much water as is needed to BARELY cover the meat.  Bring to first stage boil and cut back to a simmer.  Allow to simmer at least an hour if possible, stirring occasionally.  If using dried spices or herbs that need to steep / rehydrate, add them at about a half hour before the end of cooking time. 

Add liquid as needed to keep meat covered.  If you feel you absolutely MUST, remove any additional grease during this stage, before the next step.

Add chili seasoning mix about 15 minutes before end of cooking time plus any powdered or fresh spices that may remain.  Five minutes before end of simmering, taste the result and adjust spicing as desired. 

 At the end of the simmering cycle reduce heat once again - but leave *some* heat under the pot until after serving (stirring regularly and adding liquid as needed to avoid sticking / scorching).

Serve with crackers of choice, cheddar cheese (shredded or sliced), chopped fresh onion or green onion "sticks", and any other normal accompanients you are used to for chili night. 

 Please to note that in this one thing I am a bit of an Oklahoma-raised purist:  cook the beans separately and keep 'em out of my chili pot UNLESS you are desparate for stove / fire space.  (Doesn't mean that I don't eat my share of other people's chili with beans already mixed in.  Just find that it is best to allow the folks at the table to make their own choice as to proportions, especially the first time.

AS WRITTEN, and as I have prepared this in the past, is a mild chili.  If you want to make a perfectly good mess o' chili inedible to some number of your guests, add additional pepper juice or DE-SEEDED peppers well-chopped to YOUR taste.  More flexible if you put the sauce bottle on the table for individually-tuned tastes, again IMNSHO.

Pax ... Kihe