Ground Antelope Chili
1 1/2 pounds of cooked ground Antelope, mixed with a little beef fat30 ounces of cooked beans
2 small onions, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
1 8 ounce can of tomate sauce
1 teaspoon salt, more to taste
1 teaspoon of chili powder
2 fresh sage leaves, diced
4 fresh sprigs of rosemary, diced
2 or 3 good slices of bacon, or more to taste
1 bay leaf
parsley
fresh ground black pepper
+ enough water to get to the desired thickness
You can use canned beans or cooked dried beans. Dried beans are cheap and, if you have a pressure cooker, fast. Some people soak the beans for days sometimes even letting them sprout. You will need about 1 pound of dried beans for this. Any bean will do but I like black beans, large red beans or anasazi beans. Sort them pulling out bad beans and dirt clods. Rinse them. Toss them in a pressure cooker with enough water covering the beans so that the water is twice as deep as the beans. Add an onion or two that has been sliced in half. Add just about 1 tablespoon of sugar. The sugar helps them hold their shape. Get the pressure cooker a rocking and let it rock for about 15 minutes. At any time, if it stops rocking quickly remove it from the heat! Remove it from the heat and allow to cool. Do not open until the safety valve had dropped and you can remove the weight. Toss the onion pieces. Wonderful beans in about 30 minutes!
If you are like most of us, you just dont happen to have ground antelope on hand. I had some given to me and it worked wonderful in this recipe. Just about anything ground up would work well. Cook the ground meat and drain as much of the fat as you can.
Fry up the bacon until crisp in a pot big enough to hold the rest of the ingredients. As the bacon cools, drain the grease from the pot saving just a little bit. In that little bit of bacon grease, fry the onion and bell pepper. Meanwhile, dice up the crispy bacon and toss in the pot when the onions are done. Toss in the beans and everything else. The bacon is really the secret to the recipe. Mmm, mmm good.
If the chili is too thin for your liking, add a couple teaspoons of potato pearls. Mix it up and let it sit for a minute of two. Add more if it is still too thin. Note that it will thicken more as it cools.
I like the heat, spicy heat that is, but unfortunately my wife doesn't. If you like the heat add more chilli powder or do as I do and add some Tapatio (brand of spicy sauce similar to Tabasco but without the vinegar) to your own bowl.
Recipe History
I was given about 3 pounds of ground antelope once. I was told that antelope is not always the best to eat alone, say as a burger as it can have strong sage or other flavors, but that mixed into something it is much better. I was keen on trying the antelope meat but could not find a recipe I liked. I had previously kluged together a chili recipe using ground beef and canned beans. I went for that but thought adding bacon would be a nice touch and then I changed a few other things too. It worked out so well that I promptly wrote it down. That is something I don't usually do and because of that have lost, in my head, numerous recipes. I have finally learned.