Recipes from Joseph Romano: Part 1 of 3

We recently had the pleasure to sit down with renonwed chef, Joseph Romano to create a few wild game recipes, here is what he created for us.

With the majority of western hunts finishing up soon, we thought now would be the perfect time to release some great recipes for your recently-harvested big game meat. These are great recipes for anytime of the year. Here is the first recipe on elk chili using the meat from a bull elk that I harvested in Montana this year.

Ingredients

Quick tips:

* Make sure the pan is smoking hot before you add your ground elk. You want the meat to brown not steam.
* As the water from the tomatoes evaporates, wipe the side of the pot down. This will prevent any tomato residue from burning. 

Directions:

1. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook ground elk until evenly browned. Drain off grease and season to taste with salt and pepper.

2. Cut the onion, celery and red bell pepper to the size of the kidney beans.

3. Season with chili powder, cumin, parsley, basil and worcestershire sauce.

4. In a slow cooker, combine the cooked elk kidney beans, tomatoes, celery, red bell pepper and onions.

5. Add the tomatoes and stir to distribute ingredients evenly.

6. Cook on low heat for 3 - 6 hours -- the longer you cook on low heat, the sweeter the chili is (this is due to water evaporation from the tomatoes). 

7. Periodically stir the chili.

8. All done! Garnish with cheese, green onions, sour cream and enjoy.