Welcome to Fall: Moose Chili & Cornbread

Cast Iron Skillet Cornbread Recipe:
1 cup self-rising corn meal mix
1 egg
1/4 cup cooking oil
1 cup whole buttermilk
(mix thoroughly)
While you mix, pre-heat the oven to 450 with the skillet in the oven.  When the oven reaches 450, take the skillet out, place 1 Tbsp of bacon grease (if you have that) in the skillet (or substitute 1 Tbsp of cooking oil) letting the grease/oil spread evenly and then take a generous pinch of the corn meal mix and sprinkle it around just the edge of the skillet.  Now you can pour the cornbread mix into the center of the skillet and place the skillet back into the oven.
I bake the bread for 10 - 12 minutes keeping an eye on it.  As you can see from the photo, I prefer it to have a nice brown crust so I'm toward the 12 minute baking side.  This cornbread is meant to be thin with a little crunch on the edge.

unWine'd with a pour...

'06 Monastrell (Spain), $9 - $13
Dark fruit on the nose, plum and fig upon first tasting.  This is a dry red wine but not tannic, just the slightest hint of spiciness on the finish.  It was good with the Moose Chili.

The slow simmer...

Esther Reeves' Cornbread Recipe (circa - 1970s)

Chili Recipe:
2 lbs ground moose
6 medium tomatoes (cored/diced) or 3 cans diced
1 large spanish/sweet onion, peeled & sliced
2 cloves garlic
1 can tomato sauce
1 can light kidney beans
4 oz diced green chiles
3 bell peppers (cored/diced) (I don't use green.)
1 12oz bottle of a nut brown beer
(add spices below or substitute 2 pkgs of chili seasoning mix)
1/4 cup chili powder
2 tsp oregano
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
1tsp pepper
1tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp red pepper flakes (leave out if you don't want the extra heat)
1 1/2 Tbsp cacao nibs

* Brown the ground moose in a skillet with 1 clove of garlic.
* Add the browned moose to all the ingredients in your chili pot and mix thoroughly.

I cook the chili in a large pot for 3 hours on the lowest possible cooktop heat.  Stir infrequently.  After 3 hours, let the pot cool and place in refrigerator for 24 - 48 hours (I prefer two days).  After the refrigerator period, place the chili back on low heat and cook slow until it's hot & ready to eat.

Cheers & bon appétit...