Bison Flank Steak

It's almost the end of grilling season, and with all this rain, I don't feel like I have gotten everything out of it that I could. In July, I grilled nearly every dinner, but rainy August was definitely more of a mixed bag. I still had a few things left I needed to grill before it was too late, or too cold really. One of them was Bison. I am already a huge fan of the bison burger, but the past few times I have been at Whole Foods, I noticed they had other cuts, and that they looked tasty. My only other experience with bison, was brought back from a hunt, and it did not smell so great (it tasted fine though), so I was a little timid. One day, the boyfriend went to Whole Foods without me, and he came home with a beautiful bison flank steak. It was perfectly lean looking, and did not smell out all! Once it was grilled up, it tasted amazing, and I'm pretty sure you could serve it and no one would know they weren't eating beef. So, step outside your comfort zone, for a delicious and lean dinner!

Marinated Bison Flank Steak:
1/4 cup of red wine vinegar
2 tbsp of good balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp of Worcherstershire Sauce
1 tbsp of soy sauce
1 tsp of dijon mustard
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes
salt, pepper
1 bison flank steak, about 1 lb.
Olive oil

In a small bowl combine the vinegars, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, and mustard. Season a bison flank steak (or a beef one) with salt and pepper. Put in a plastic bag and pour in the vinegar mixture, add the red pepper flakes and garlic. Seal the bag and shake until the steak is coated. Refrigerate overnight. Pre-heat the grill. Remove the steak from the marinade and run with a little bit of oil. Cook for about 4 minutes on one side, and then flip and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes, for medium rare. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. To serve, slice against the grain.

Happy Eating.

Buffalo and chicken, not buffalo chicken.

Exciting news! Food wise anyways. This has somehow become a big week in cooking. On Tuesday night I made delicious chicken kebabs, that are being added to the list of regular dinners (as in dinners to repeat, often, these include, fried rice, pasta w. red sauce, etc. You know, everyday meals). Then last night I made bison burgers! They were falling apart slightly, but good and exciting. Plus the meat came to me for free. A lovely gift from some people at work who went hunting and brought back more meat than they knew what to do with. They also gave me (well the boyfriend, but me by extension) something that is called a ham, but is really a roast from the butt. I will have to investigate what to do with that. Then tomorrow night, we are hosting a homemade pizza party. I am so excited! Saturday I will be making pizzas all day. I will definitely let everyone know, exactly what gets made and how it turns out!

So the delicious chicken kebabs...

1-1.5 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken thighs (yes, you heard me right, and trust me)
1 Vidalia onion (or something similar)
1 Bell Pepper
3 Cloves of garlic
1/2 a lemon
6 Sprigs of Rosemary (soon it could be from my garden!)
Olive oil
Salt, pepper
Skewers

Pre-heat the broiler (or the grill). Chop the onion and pepper into sizable chunks and season with salt and pepper, for skewering. Dice the garlic and rosemary. Cut the chicken into largish chunks, and season with salt and pepper. Assemble skewers in the order of your choice. I did onion, pepper chicken, repeat. I needed 5 skewers for 1.2 lbs of chicken, 1 onion, and 1 pepper. Lay the skewers on the broiler pan and pour a little olive oil on the full skewers. Sprinkle (a lot of sprinkling) the rosemary and garlic on them. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon over the skewers. Broil for about 6 minutes then turn the skewers and broil on the other side for an addition 6-7 minutes until cooked through, this will largely depend on the size of your chunks. So, adjust time as necessary.

This was so delicious. I served it with Carolina's Spanish style yellow rice, which was the perfect accompaniment. The chicken was juicy and delicious. It made me wish for summer so bad though. I can't wait until it's grilling time again!

And the Buffalo Burgers...

1 lb of ground bison
1 yellow onion
3 cloves of garlic
1 egg
A bit of breadcrumbs
Salt, Pepper

Mix everything together and make into burgers. This isn't so much a recipe, as much as it is a story about how I ate bison for the first time, and I cooked it. I cooked them on a griddle pan. I had mine with mushrooms, lettuce, tomato and feta cheese, the boyfriend has jack cheese, lettuce and tomato. They tasted a lot like a regular burger with a small something you can't quite put your finger on. Not the most adventurous way to try a new meat, and I am excited to try the roast, which seems more real than eating ground meat, because really ground meat is ground meat, and the only thing that really makes a difference is fat content. Bison is similar to an 85/15 or 90/10 and that's all you really need to know.

Happy Eating.