Soul Food, Comfort Food

Lately, I've been making a lot of dishes that I refer to as soul food or cajun goulash (even though it's not really goulash because it lacks pasta and the consistency it really more like that of a hash). I've been cooking it with ground beef or ground venison, and it really is delightful on a cold day. My husband has been hitting the books pretty hard lately, so he really loves coming home to satisfying comfort food.

Here's what I do:

I cook about a cup of long grain rice in two cups of beef broth for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, I brown a pound of ground meat in a large saucepan. It's seasoned with salt, garlic powder, and pepper. Spices that could make it more of a cajun dish would be a little cayenne, paprika, and chili powder. If I'm cooking with venison, I put a little olive oil in the pan to keep it from sticking. After it's browned, I'll deglaze the pan a little with some red wine or beer, whatever is handy. Then, I like to add diced red potatoes, a chopped white or yellow onion, a about half a head of diced garlic. The last time I made this dish, I used half of a chopped green bell pepper because it was in the fridge. I also add one can of diced tomatoes, if the tomatoes are already seasoned, all the better. This dish can handle lots of flavors. I also sometimes add a can of green chiles. Then, I add one or two diced chipotle peppers. I've found the smokiness of chipotle really compliments the flavor of deer meat.

Once my potatoes are tender, I add the rice to the saucepan and mix everything together. Dishes like these are really great on a cold and rainy day.