There is just something about sitting around at the hunting lodge with your buddies telling stories and eating good food! As for me, I love to cook, so I love being out on the grill or inside whipping up some good ole comfort food for all the guys and gals. When it's cold out, nothing beats some good chili and cornbread! So stick around and I'll show you how we made it!
Hunting Lodge Chili
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The Best Smoked Venison Chili and Homemade Cornbread!
Rated 5.0 stars by 1 users
Category
Wild Game
Cuisine
American
Author:
Tim Van Doren
Servings
10
Prep Time
20 minutes
Cook Time
3 hours
Aight Guys!! If you are looking for the perfect meal to take to the hunting camp, wild game cook or really any get together for that matter, then I've got you covered! This smoked venison chili with homemade cornbread is sure to have everyone begging for more! Just imagine slow smoked ground venison with the juices dripping into your chili mixture below and then adding the smoked venison to your pot of chili and allowing it to slowly simmer for another hour. You pair that with some homemade cornbread and butter, add a little cheese and a dollop of daisy on top of that chili and it'll make a puppy pull a freight train as my buddy Rodney would say! Now let's dive into it and I'll show you how to make it!
Ingredients
Cornbread
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2 ½ - Cups of Self Rising Cornmeal
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3 - Eggs
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¼ - Cup Vegetable Oil
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1 ½ - Cups of Whole Cultured Buttermilk
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2 - Cups of Shredded Cheddar Cheese
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1 - Can of Whole Kernel Corn drained
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1 - Cup of sliced Green Onions
Venison Chili
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2 - Lbs of Ground Venison (I added fat to mine at the processor)
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1 - Red Bell Pepper chopped
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1 - Green Bell Pepper chopped
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2 - Medium Sweet Onions chopped
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1 - Tbsp of Minced Garlic
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1 - 28 Ounce can of Crushed Tomatoes
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6 - Ounce of Tomato Paste
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1 - Can of Diced Green Chilis
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1 - Can of Red Kidney Beans
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1 - Can of Pinto Beans
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1 - Can of Navy Beans
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1 - Can of Black Beans rinsed and drained
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¼ - Cup of Bear and Burton’s The W Sauce
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3 - Cups of Beef Broth
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2 - Tbsp of Ground Cumin
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4 - Tbsp of Chili Powder
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1 - Tbsp of Smoked Paprika
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2 - Tbsp of Olive Oil
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Salt & Pepper to taste
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Lane’s BBQ Fajita Seasoning
Directions
Cornbread
Preheat Oven to 425 degrees.
Pour oil into 12” cast iron skillet and place in oven to preheat.
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.
Once oven and cast iron are preheated, pour 90% of the hot oil into the bowl with the cornbread mixture, mix well and then immediately pour cornbread mixture into hot cast iron skillet. Place in preheated oven and allow to cook for 30-45 minutes or until golden brown and cooked all the way through.
Once done, remove from oven and allow to sit 10-15 minutes before flipping it over and dumping it on to your cutting board.
Venison Chili
Place a cast iron dutch oven over whatever heat source you are using, allow to preheat and add olive oil.
Next add your peppers and onions and allow to cook until translucent. Add in your garlic and cook another minute or two or until fragrant.
Add The W Sauce, cumin, smoked paprika, chili powder, salt & pepper and mix well. Next add beef broth, bring to a boil, add in tomato paste and stir until everything is well combined.
Now add in crushed tomatoes, all the beans and can of green chilis. Mix well and allow to simmer while you work on your ground venison.
Preheat your pellet smoker to 250 degrees.
Take ground venison, form into a loaf and season well with Lane’s BBQ Fajita seasoning.
Place the dutch oven of chili into the smoker, place a wire rack on top and place your loaf of ground venison directly over the chili so all the fat renderings drip into the chili. I used cherry wood for the smoke and allow to smoke for 2 hours.
After the 2 hour mark, place the smoked venison loaf into the chili mixture and break it up until you get to the consistency you want. At this point, taste it to see if it needs anymore salt or seasoning. Cover with a lid and allow to cook for another hour.
Now it’s time to plate it up! Get you a slice of that cornbread, pour you some chili in a bowl, add sour cream, cheddar cheese and a few green onions! Dig in and Enjoy!
Recipe Video
Recipe Note
This recipe will also work with ground beef as well! As far as the cornbread goes, you can really add anything else you want such as jalapeños, diced green chilis or anything else you would like!