Venison (or Beef) Chili

How to tastefully use up those weird bits of meat in the back corner of your freezer.

Ingredients:
2 onions, chopped
handful hot peppers, chopped
3-4 stalks celery, chopped
2 red peppers, chopped'
2 carrots, finely chopped

Add the above ingredients to a large oiled pot, and stir over medium heat.

I wanted to use up some slightly freezer-burned venison cube steak found at the bottom of my chest freezer. Chili is a great way to use up mystery meat, especially as a simmered stew with complex flavors does a nice job of hiding freezer burn or other inadequacies. In any case, chili is just good.

So, add your meat: chop chunks of meat, shread cube steak, or just dump in ground meat. Here I'm manually shredding the cube steak.

Dump in 2-3 cans of beans. I've used black and pinto for this chili.

Add roasted tomatoes, chopped fresh tomatoes, or a can of chopped tomatoes.

Add a big handful of chopped garlic , lots of chili powder, and some oregano, then simmer for a while to cook off the extra tomato water. Check and stir as necessary.

When it's cooked down sufficienty, add a big handful of chopped cilantro.

Add salt, pepper, and additional seasonings to taste. I added some Worchestershire sauce and lime juice.

Serve hot, with a big pile of grated cheese for topping.