Bison bison bison – Plains Bison = Recipe for High Plains Meatballs

High Plains Bison Meatballs recipe

1 lb. ground bison

1/2 medium onion, finely diced

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 tsp. dried basil

1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

“Created by: Chef Forrest D. Waldo, II C.E.C.  Pre-heat oven to 350°F.   In a large bowl, add all ingredients and mix well with your hands.   Form into walnut sized balls and place on oiled cookie tray, careful not to overcrowd and let the meatballs touch.  Bake in oven 15 minutes or until done.

Per serving: calories 334, fat 17.9g, 49% calories from fat, cholesterol 94mg, protein 29.0g, carbohydrates 12.2g, fiber 0.8g, sugar 1.6g, sodium 282mg, diet points 8.5.  Dietary Exchanges: Milk: 0.0, Vegetable: 0.4, Fruit: 0.0, Bread: 0.7, Lean meat: 4.0, Fat: 0.0, Sugar: 0.0, Very lean meat protein: 0.0”

http://www.mealsforyou.com/cgi-bin/recipe?id.18157 Retrieved August 10, 2013

Bison meat is delicious, in my humble opinion. After the farmers’ market today, I went to buy ingredients for Chris’ favorite chocolate pie and was at Cub foods across the river, in Roseville. Cub carries fresh buffalo meat in one-pound packages. Instantly I was inspired. I tried to reproduce the savory meatballs that Richard had made for our get together four Saturdays ago. (I did say ‘tried’. Flying blind here, without a clue.)

Once again, following Richard’s lead I put some olive oil in a pan and cooked them slowly, but since I don’t cook meat very much, I became a little antsy about the timing. It takes a lot more know how and patience to cook bison than I realized.

However, a slow flame means, “hold yer horses, girlie.” (Okay. Okay. Okay.) As you might have guessed I looked at more than one recipe. So what’s this paleo-diet that people are going on about? I have even seen articles on Cro-Magnon diet. But I digress, dear reader.

I do not have any Worcestershire sauce in the house; also am out of soy sauce. “Watta mistaka to make-a.” – Chico Marx

One recipe called for breadcrumbs. To that end, I threw in a couple of scant tablespoons. (Not enough, chica. Follow the recipe on all ingredients, please?) Bison is already dry meat and very lean. Some cooks add beef burger to it. (Add the Worcestershire sauce.) To the mix I added some finely chopped field garlic, in place of scallions, opal basil, and fennel leaves and the half of a medium white onion.

I cooked and turned the meatballs in a pan, but they were better left alone; except I had to watch them closely as my stove has uneven heat. Finally, I removed the meatballs from the fire and there were nice crumbles of onion and meat in the pan. Turned off the fire and I deglazed with some Malbec red wine and made a quick sauce for the meatballs. I added a squirt of honey. (Oh Yeah.) Quickly turned on the fire for a few seconds to blend the flavors and cook off the alcohol.

And this is what you deserve to eat. Lean bison meatballs with red wine sauce.