Friday, May 22, 2009

Grilled Bison


Grilled Bison
Originally uploaded by whatstepheats

I'm not dead, just jet-lagged.

Last week's trip to the Sacramento area landed us at the home of a friend in El Dorado Hills (after being stuck in Folsom Traffic for hours, victim to some ingenious plan to merge 4 lanes into one, but I digress...).

Our friend has a beautiful A-frame house on top of a ridge. There were roosters, goats, and wild turkeys roaming around, and if you looked down the hill there was a field of bison, where a baby had just been born the week before. As cute and playful as this little baby bison was, I yearned to sample some meat as soon as I could get my hands on it.

Cut to last night: the Dinnerman and I grilled bison for the first time ever, and we loved it so much that it has earned a spot in the regular rotation!

I'd heard that bison meat was leaner than beef, so it was less tender and much easier to overcook. This made me a bit apprehensive, which is not always a bad thing.


The bison went into a very simple marinade of olive oil, garlic, parsley, a splash of cider vinegar, salt and pepper. After a few hours of soaking and a few minutes of grilling, we were groaning in delight as we bit into the tender and flavorful flesh.

The Dinnerman even indulged my latest television obsession in the form of an evening of 'In Treatment' episodes - something he rarely will do without a grumble. I give partial credit the bison! The other part goes to the previous night's linguini with clams: