Chilindron is a Spanish stew, and is one of my favorite dishes, so versatile that it stands outside the normal categories of venison, upland birds, etc.

Chilindron (chill-in-DRONE) is dominated by roasted red peppers, paprika and onions. Most recipes also call for rosemary, olive oil, garlic, some tomatoes, good stock and wine.

The stew originates in Aragon, a part of central Spain. I first heard about this stew in the late, great Penelope Casas’ Delicioso! The Regional Cooking of Spain , but I’ve since read about a dozen other recipes for this classic in other Spanish cookbooks.

It is rich, woodsy, and bright, a perfect combination of the “red food” many of us crave (spaghetti sauce, chili, etc – think about the colors in your favorite foods and you’ll find many of them are reddish) with the slightly austere, piney flavors that mark European wild game cooking.

I make this stew every few weeks I love it so much; it is one of the few “standards” I will repeat on a regular basis.

As for what meat to use, the Spanish stew typically features lamb or chicken. This hints at the range this stew possesses. I have made chilindron with good results from chicken, pheasant, rabbit, beef, venison and antelope, wild boar and pork. There is no reason you cannot toss in whatever you like.

I suppose you could even make a vegetarian version with mushrooms. When switching from light to dark meat, switch from white to red wine, too. Other than that, I use this basic recipe.