Venison Chilaquiles
Prep this venison breakfast the night before for a filling and delicious pre-hunt wild game meal
If you come to my family’s hunting cabin in South Georgia for the first time, this is probably what you’d have for Saturday morning breakfast. I first made this after having it for breakfast at a little diner near Denver. Being a huge fan of Mexican food, I knew as soon as they set the plate down in front of me that I was going to make this at Hunting Camp with venison. One of the things we pride ourselves with at Hunting Camp is our love of hosting new hunters. Just mention to my dad that you might like to try hunting, or even better tell him you want to take your kid hunting, and he will whip out his calendar and ask if you can go this weekend or next.
Because we have so many first time hunters I always like to get them in the spirit by serving lots of venison. Kind of a “look what awesome meat you can get.” When asked to describe what they are going to have for breakfast, I always say “venison nachos with an egg on top.” This seems to make the dish very approachable even to kids. A huge advantage of this dish is that most of the work happens after the Friday evening hunt when you can kick back and make it leisurely while enjoying a couple cold beers after dinner. In the morning a quick frying of tortillas and eggs is all it takes to get it on the table. It’s so convenient to have it ready to go just in case a guest gets lucky and we have to recover and clean a happy hunter’s first deer.
Venison Chilaquiles
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground venison with added beef fat
- 1 medium Vidalia onion diced
- 10 oz fire roasted diced tomatoes
- 1 can green chiles hatch chiles if possible
- 1 can beer Coors Yellow Bellies or any American lager
- 1 jalapeño finely diced
- 1 small can tomato paste
- ½ tbsp kosher salt
- 2 cloves garlic finely minced
For serving
- 3 tortillas per person
- 2 eggs per person
- cotija or parmesan cheese
- 1 small red onion thinly sliced
- lard for frying
Instructions
To prepare the night before
- Brown the venison in a pan over high heat and then add onion and cook until soft.
- Place in a crock pot or Dutch oven and add the rest of the ingredients and either cook on low in the crock pot, or if in a Dutch oven in a 200 degree oven overnight.
To serve
- Fry tortillas in a cast iron skillet in lard or oil taking care not to crowd the pan; I usually do 3 at a time. Fry until golden brown and crisp. Drain on paper towels and set aside.
- Either fry the eggs over easy or poach in water with a splash of vinegar keeping the yolks runny.
- Cut the tortillas into wedges and top with the venison mixture, slide the eggs on top and then sprinkle with cheese.
- Add a few red onion rings and be sure to put hot sauce on the table for people who like a spicy breakfast.
