Making Chili Verde with Brad Leone and Ryan Callaghan

Brad Leone joins Ryan Callaghan in the MeatEater kitchen to cook up a bone warming recipe perfect for a cold and wet spring afternoon. Brad and Cal had plans to recreate the recipe from The MeatEater Outdoor Cookbook by substituting bear meat for turkey. But when the freezer burn thawed off, they found themselves with a bag of beaver meat instead. When life hands you lemons, make beaver chili verde.
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okay snort tell us what you’re making today get out of there [Music] [Music] [Music] clap boom this is going to be called wrenchin with K and Brad wrenchin yeah is that the name of the show I think it should be I like it it’s a great title yeah it’s a great title so uh Brad’s out here because we were going to go turkey hunting and all of I90 is closed which is I think the longest closure in Interstate 90 history in recent memory memory um so thanks for bringing that with you Brad yeah that didn’t work out too well uh I was I was stoked to go chased after some some different because you have a different type of turkey out here correct me if I’m wrong right it’s not the Eastern bird it’s a you say mirams Ros yeah oh we consequently have all day okay to cook together in well it’s cold out it’s May it’s uh it’s snowing here which was a bit of a shocker I wasn’t really expecting that yeah and uh today what we’re going to make a nice little perfect little break right little cold weather little little Cool Spring what’s it called what are we doing a stew little chilly ver day yeah in the old book there who should I point this at and we’re going to do it out of some turkey but in the quest to find this turkey we came across a co-workers horribly pack wife oh Jesus I don’t want to be here anymore horribly packaged uh chunk of bear meat so we’re going to do them a favor we’re going to clean up as much of this as we can we’re going to what the the heck is it Callahan I don’t know this looks like a hip that’s yeah like a ball joint right there yeah yeah um skaty but we also have a little chunk of hair we have some this is a real um you know end of a fourth quarter shove it in a bag and put it in the freezer move huh exactly I’ve been there but then I try to thought it out and you’re going to want to try to avoid this yes I’ve never had bear meat before and well that’s not a bear no that’s that’s a very small bear what the heck that looks like um it’s dark meat a raccoon oh I wonder if this is a beaver that’s what that look at that fur on the on the little ankles welcome to the mediator office welcome this is some of Steve’s Beaver man what kind of what kind of bears you got out here looks like I’m still not going to have bear huh so we can’t make funand Williams for this we can make fun of Steven renella for this okay mediator founder right under the bus like that yeah right under the bus run him right over Steve yeah so this is the this is the portion that the big tail attaches to so a good lesson on labeling meat yeah right do it thought it was Bear turns out it’s Beaver the old mystery bag yeah mystery bags will get you but also not to be throwing shade on anyone I we can leave this really Anonymous but this whole clean job is giving me major anxiety yeah yep like this whole thing I I don’t even know what to do it was meant to be addressed immediately upon return oh I see someone a little forgotten task yeah exactly exactly so we’ll just bone this out do you want to bone that out get rid of the fat it’s real greasy yeah um I would say get rid of the hair too but you you’re the guest we can do what you want for sure yeah for sure we’re definitely going to try to get rid of as much of this I mean this thing looks like it got it was a burn victim and then thrown on the street yeah yeah that that’s accurate that checks out pretty well yeah pretty well we’re gonna well with this right it calls for boneless turkey breast skinned turkey legs okay yeah oh so it does so why don’t we leave the legs the bone in yeah help kind of build that little bit of the sauce in that in our broth maybe break this little joint let her just pop it I’m going to remove it like a chicken yeah get to work chicken of the the pond check out of the pond what the Beavers often called oh really you making that up yeah all right you know curtain hun got cancelled and now we’re cleaning up someone’s mistake in the freezer little foliage that’s the least of our problems bud I don’t who who shot this thing did we do we know or you don’t shoot them you trap them it’s going to be one of two people one of two people it’s going to be Seth Morris or Steven renella those are the beaver boys yeah I’m pretty sure we got Steve this is this is [Music] Stever [Applause] [Music] well hey [Music] so with our Beaver meat salt everything pepper everything let’s get some salt on that stack yeah like yesterday Chef I’d be salting that thing a day ahead yeah because it’s a little greasy and it’s holding a little bit of water and and all that salt just really going to help kind of pull out especially the the moisture with all meat but especially red meat can really get a away with it longer especially something on the bone um I always put salt on red meat at least a few hours ahead if not overnight just going to help Wick out some of that moisture get you a better sear and color when you are trying to put some color on it and Char it up and then also it’s going to have that seasoning Salt’s the only thing that penetrates through the cell walls all your seasoning and stuff is going to stay on the surface but the salt will go all the way through and penetrate give you a juicier meat but then also give you a seasoned meat throughout which is nice I I was just getting excited yeah darn R darn R do we need to puree our tomatillos why don’t we put a little Char on them right on the old on the gas here I got it Chef I’m on it boom I got you Chef thank you thank you let me get one of those for the cook while I’m going to show you a little fun fun we’ll roast up them tomatillos pretend like it’s a campfire and they can kind of take a little hammer and that’s going to add a nice little smokiness and a little texture and flavor into the uh get a nice little speckly type of bit [Music] another very painstaking thing that people mess up myself included a lot is you have a bunch of meat that really needs to be individually charred yeah or else you get steam that builds up in here from over Crow be glazing also not you want to usually use a high wall not a high walled pan a higher wall sometimes will help it kind of deglaze itself with its own scham we’re going to be all right here though that’s for sure quick question yeah can I cut on this or is this like a prop or something cut on it what we yeah thank God everything’s a prop in here me and you both [Music] buddy here’s a question for you yeah trivia man with the beaver is it like something similar with bear where you can’t eat it like medium you might get like some pond chosis scui that’s a great question heck yeah it all I’ve ever had it is is bra yeah when in doubt I guess cook it well yeah oh that looks delish let me smell smells like beef smells good you want anything sticking out to you no any flavor notes coming coming out just like rich beefiness [Music] all right Cal so I’m going to start cutting up our uh charred up veg here peppers from Matos in the old book here um little tip for you if you can’t if you’re cooking without a blender in the woods or in this kitchen right now you could uh use a food mill if you don’t have a food mill you do it the old fashioned little choppy chop little chop chop chop chop Brad but yeah always cut with your with your fingers and always watch the thumb everybody sleeps on the thumb oh before you know it it starts getting a little curious and starts wandering and Wham you’re cutting half your nail off wham wham okay I’m going to kind of deglaze our tidbits with the anvelope stock oh let’s talk about that you kept that real quiet Chef that looks great yeah um and man if you’re not making your own stock at home it is it adds so much oh from everything it freezes great and uh you know you add it to I add it to everything from cooking rice to fres and you know it’s and it’s the best and you know analou deer elk you know growing up most folks I knew they threw the bones in the woods for the coyotes you know and the rib meat and the leg meat all that stuff man bring the saws all to it cut it up into the little pieces throw it in the stock pot beautiful kid beautiful thing oh you pressure can that yeah look at you bud well you’re on the island you’re on the team all right when when [ __ ] hits fan Cen Co you guys you guys are welcome to the Fort okay so into this stock I’m going to throw throw our chopped green chilies right I love them things yeah real Pantry Arsenal throw it in the backpack elevate your little boo boo chili you’re doing in the woods oh yeah little kuming yeah and I know I screwed it up I SC didn’t SC you didn’t screw up at all you know there’s a lot of things happening we did a lot of Miracles already clear brutal communication before we deglaze about a nice little thing folks watching you put your dry spices in just for like a quick you know 20 30 seconds toast up that dry cumin you don’t want burn it but just bring it out a little bit Grom oils kind of a nice little little toast on it then hit it with your liquid and then it’s just those little touches little yeah little oregano love that little American classic little Buck skins yeah yeah yellow bellies buck skin then that probably would have been a good thing to deglaze the pan with it was but I forgot that was in this recipe it’s good man we’re splitting hairs here we’re wrenching Brad we’re wrenching yeah wrenching C Brad brought you by Buck skins that’s right we’re going to ease it I want to you want to Pop That Joint want cut those joints yeah Bo thank you yeah thank you it’s got some funny stuff going on as far as joints well yeah they’re they’re what they’re I an aquatic rodent right yeah like that didn’t go how I thought it was going to go yeah their their joints aren’t going to look double jointed yeah I was joking at first but it it I kind of well now I’m like look at that see what’s going on in there there’s like another ball joint in there yeah it’s amazing right cuz they’re doing this thing oh yeah yeah but then they also come up they got little orbitals fascinating yeah all right why don’t you dump those babies in the pot I’m going to return our turkey to the refrigerator I’ll throw a little lid on this and looks like I uh dejoint did that with a hatchet or a chainsaw for God’s sakes but that’s going to be all right you get right in there in that nice little analou bath yeah you get nice and cozy in there is that nice we’re in it we’re in the braides yeah we’re in the Braves which is we’re in the brave Zone which is uh is going to take a few hours that little fever leg L low and slow buddy low slow we’re we’re set up nice and then we’re going to put everything together it’s going to thicken up and then we’re going to be chow time I feel really good about it oh yeah smells delicious it really does uh so because you know we’re in the food culinary conservation hunting angling entertainment space yes heck yeah we are I’d like to introduce you to Dr Randall Williams doctor of meat eater trivia F hey Randall what are we going to do today we’re going to play some metor trivia the game show where conservation always wins $5,000 to the conservation organization of your choice got it a lot of confidence coming out of Brad I’m going to give you a hint all right thank you should I give him a hint sure the correct answer is Alaska n two of North America’s four major deserts or we’re on to another question SE it has like that shape like that ftic question I knew episode 355 got 43% correct we’ve got 100% correct today guys it’s fishing we did it what state has the most Acres of national forest green gold and it’s forage not [ __ ] but it might be answer is jining oh hey good game good game thanks for coming out thanks for playing we put a lot into the infrastructure of this kitchen just I like that yeah mhh okay we got gravy it’s we do it’s nice I mean it’s it’s really nice and like the the reason that you should make your own stock is coming through here like you can see it’s up we got a double stock going here you could have got away with just water I think with the bones that we had but I tell you what adding your stock to it it certainly is not going to it’s not going to do anything bad but we reduce that by I’d say at least half as far as the liquid uh content goes and I think now is a good time we can add all up our our charred tomatillos peppers onions garlic and that turkey meat yes let that kind of cook up and you put some color on that turkey meat right ready y exactly yeah let me grab that yeah that’s a look at that all right like little short ribby oh very short ribby yeah right now just like this even without the the ver day oh You’ you’d be happy yeah yeah you’d be real happy we’re just bringing it to a whole another level here let me add the Turk boom boom boom that’s going to be nice little mixed Beaver turkey ain’t many people doing that no yet no no no maybe watch I’m going to get in the beaver trapping Pond chicken and Little Pond Chicken in some what can we call Grande dinosaurs man little Velociraptor Birds you know yes oh who’s the guy who’s the guy that chopped this stuff that looks good right little texture it’s going to be I think this the name of this dish is just happy accidents the name of this episode is Happy accidents it’s beautiful put the lid back on yeah let those toos break down let everything get real happy beautiful oh it’s beautiful y beautiful yeah L thank you lit up there that’s what I’m talking about bring that down to a little low little simmer let’s get do a little more wrench and we’ll come back in say 45 minutes mhm Jesus Christ simmer down yeah fire up good job snort [Music] good Denver good girl dead ball hey heyob I’m going to have to keep setting them down no no teeth marks great you guys got beaver in [Laughter] there oh is this where we caught that thing my I can’t unse the bag though the transformation from bag to this M would never know yeah yep short rib right it’s got a little T yeah mhm it’s very good yeah it needs needs to just go a little bit more little bit and it’ll be a little more everything yeah everything will be nice too y to break down a little more of that ver day chili yeah this is more like a chunky stew versus well we also the book it calls for um a blender or food mill we just chopped it up which I’m totally okay with I think that’s I would do that even if I had a blender sometimes yeah you know mix it up a little bit you’re not going to miss anything flavor-wise it’s just a texture thing right you’re not going to miss anything yeah [Music] all I think it’s time it is it is we got a little beat me in you beat you beat me in trivia you beat me in pingpong but I learned a lot in uh most of the phases well yeah and you’re still taller so yeah but that’s that’s not good I’m probably my hips will probably give out first you know flying sucks but you know what are we doing counting here longevity oh this looks good but look what we got for you o I love all right little cold day in May not today but we’re going to look at this Bobby’s going to sleep good tonight look at that you get a little coont board we got there this is coming together where’s Stevie boy go send let’s get him let’s send him a bowl he’s in there reading books by himself oh yeah let’s send him a little bowl that’s good thing like a good neighbor like you’re up Beaver we saved okay I’m not going first D go first prob oh yeah get a little that Crema in there mhm mhm got a little heat big turkey nugget mhm okay I’m going to take a bite out of your bowl then we can run this bow the fancy one into Steve yeah that’s going to be a good bite right there that’s a good bite y I’m kind of fired up on the beaver not going to lie dude that’s phenomenal that’s good stuff that’s really good should we run this into Steve yeah got the little mystery meat for you Steve it’s super good tasty yeah we Rift on the old uh chili ver out of the book that was great man Beav there was this white meat in there that ain’t no Beaver no no no that’s tasty so the beaver it’s a good yeah it is good right little spicy some Sano little pablano that Crema the beaver likes the crema man mhm we did good bud we did great we did good I liked it you liked it Steve liked it yeah yeah let’s get it uh let’s let’s send that you know there’s one thing I’ve learned from working in offices I haven’t worked in a ton of them but uh free food people get fired up people get fired up for sure do we tell him it’s Beaver yeah yeah we honest around here right exactly cuz you want that honest first impression yeah yeah plus I mean look at what we created it’s not like it’s it’s painful to the it’s delicious and I’m proud of it and it was a little uh again I hate to say it again but a little bit of a happy accident yeah although the bear well next time I I would like to try some Bear yes next time we come back it does exist in this office we need to find it somewhere it’s floating down we’re going to we’re going to slack out the message yeah get the animals down here we’ll feed him and we’ll clean this up this was a blast man oh dude every time thanks for sharing my first uh wild Beaver experience absolutely buddy get on the [Music] slack no you take I get them all you’re better anyway [Music]