Venison Posole

Recipe Contributed by Field Staff Writer S. West.

I was sitting in my kitchen, watching more snow fall the other day and I realized anew just how much I dislike this time of year. The gluttonous celebrations of Christmas & New Years have passed, in Ontario almost all hunting seasons are closed until late April, I don’t partake of ice fishing, and where I live it is just one constant, dank, snowy wasteland for most of the next 120 days.

So I went down to my freezer and grabbed a big venison hip roast and as I did so the memories of deer season came flooding back. Picturing my fall days afield I stood there thinking of what to do with this chunk of meat. I decided to make a hearty soup to chase away some of the crippling winter blues.

It worked.

I had to make two minor revisions to this recipe; first off, traditional posole is made with pork which can be pretty bland overall. Since I like the deep meaty flavor of seared venison, and this is Harvesting Nature, that’s what I used; I find it works perfectly with this recipe. Secondly, I know that a true posole (for you purists out there) is made with hominy instead of chickpeas. That said, if you can find hominy in Canada in the wintertime you are a better person than I. I find the chickpeas make a more than adequate (and dare I say, healthier) stand in, though. If you have hominy, just swap the chickpeas out for the same amount of hominy.

Listen to our Podcast
Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, Amazon Music

Like what we are creating? Buy us a coffee to say thanks!

Since this is winter comfort food I prefer to eat this accompanied by a full-bodied beer, like an Irish stout or a scotch ale. I like those beers at room temperature, but they are just as fine chilled.

Venison Posole Rojo

Ingredients:

• 10-12 dried guajillo chilies
• 12 cloves garlic
• 2lbs venison hip (cubed)
• 2 tablespoons ground cumin
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 large sweet onion, roughly chopped
• 1 ¾ cup low-sodium vegetable broth
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 3 bay leaves
• 2 cans chickpeas, drained & rinsed
• Kosher salt (to taste)
• Pepper (to taste)
• Baby spinach
• Radishes
• Scallions
• Cilantro

Chili Sauce Preparation:

1. Break the stems off the chilies and remove some of the seeds. The more seeds you leave in, the spicier your hot sauce will be.
2. Put the chilies in a large bowl, cover with boiling water, and soak until soft for 30-60 minutes. You are essentially making chili tea.
3. Put five cloves of garlic, the re-hydrated chilies and 1 1/2 cups of the reserved “chili tea” in a bowl and blend until smooth.
4. Using a wooden spoon or spatula, strain the mixture through a fine sieve into another bowl.
5. The remaining solids still have some heat so I reserve these in the fridge for future use, but you can dispose of them how you like.
6. You should have a deep red hot sauce with a good garlic zip in the background. Taste it and season with kosher salt as needed.

The Soup Preparation:

1. Rub the venison all over with the cumin and some kosher salt.
2. Heat the vegetable oil in a heavy pot over medium high heat.
3. Add the cubed venison to the oil in batches and sear until brown.
4. Reduce the heat to medium and add the onion and cook until soft. Crush and add the remaining garlic and cook briefly ensuring not to burn it.
5. Stir in 1 cup water, the vegetable, oregano, bay leaf, and 1 cup of the chili sauce (or more/less depending on your spice tolerance).
6. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, covered for an hour.
7. Stir in the chickpeas and continue to simmer, uncovered, until the chickpeas are soft and the venison pulls apart with a fork.
8. Remove the bay leaf & season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serving

1. Add a handful of baby spinach to the bottom of a bowl and ladle the posole over the top to wilt it slightly.
2. Add sliced radishes, scallions, roughly chopped cilantro and as much of the remaining chili sauce.

Get More Recipes by S. West
Maple-Smoked Venison Caldo Verde
Cucumber Condiment Craziness
Poutine with Venison Bolognese