Jack Hennessy serves up Venison Chili this week for ‘Braising the Wild’

VENISON CHILI Ask any cook with a chili recipe and they’ll tell you theirs is the best. The funny thing: All are telling the truth. Some of us even have trophies and badges under our belts that speak to the renowned nature of our spicy-meat and -beans concoctions. Nevertheless, we likely will always prefer our own to all others. For fun, among friends, I’ve participated in a few chili cook-offs and, in my experience, if done correctly, the first chili tasted should always be the winner. Why? Spice should build to the point where you can’t adequately taste the remaining options, thus making the initial choice the only discernable flavor. But that’s just me. This chili recipe is fairly mild but might provide a few tricks to try for your own recipe. Poblano peppers are optional. Keep the seeds and pulp from them for extra spice. Also, Firebee Spicy Honey is the perfect cherry on top to this recipe, if you ask me. Ingredients (make four to six servings): 1 pound ground venison 1 medium yellow onion, diced 2 poblano peppers, roasted and diced (optional) 1 yellow bell pepper, roasted and diced 1 red bell pepper, roasted and diced 1 15-ounce. can of black beans 1 15-ounce cans of pinto beans 1 15-ounce cans of kidney beans 1 10-3/4-ounce can of Campbell’s Tomato Soup 1-1/2 cups of chicken stock 1 1.75-ounce McCormick chili spice packet Kosher salt and black pepper, divided use Vegetable or sunflower cooking oil Firebee Spicy Honey for topping (optional) Sour cream, shredded cheese, and minced scallions for garnish (optional) To prepare: Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and a medium skillet to medium-high heat. Rub peppers with cooking oil and dice onion. Open all bean cans and drain liquids, rinse beans thoroughly. Place oiled peppers in oven once oven reaches 400. Add thin layer of cooking oil to skillet and drop in diced onion. Dust with kosher salt and black pepper. Once onions are brown and slightly soft, add 1 pound ground venison. Dust again with kosher salt and black pepper. Check roasting peppers after 10 minutes and rotate to sear other side. Check again at 8 minutes. Remove once all peppers have sear marks and outer skin is loose. Place peppers in a large bowl and cover with aluminum foil or plastic wrap. Place covered bowl in refrigerator to sweat peppers for half hour. Once venison is browned, add spice packet and let simmer for 10 minutes. In a large pot, add beans plus Campbell’s Tomato Soup and chicken stock. Place pot on burner on low heat. Once venison is fully cooked and has simmered, add it and onions to large pot with beans. Stir thoroughly. Remove peppers from bowl after half hour in fridge, or once outer skin is loose. Peel off skin and remove seeds and pulp. Dice peppers and add to large pot. Stir ingredients in pot thoroughly and let simmer for minimum half hour before serving.