I had my first buffalo burger the day I saw my first buffalo, in fact, on the day when I encountered a herd of eight hundred of them. George and I were visiting our son, Jonathan, who was chef at an inn which was part of a 55,000-acre buffalo ranch in Wyoming. During our short stay we sampled buffalo chili, buffalo short-ribs, grilled buffalo steak, and my favorite, buffalo carpaccio. The buffalo meat is lean, rich in iron, and hormone free. It has a distinctive, meaty taste which is hard to describe. We loved it.
Back in New York, I was glad to find freshly ground buffalo patties at Citarella’s meat department. Their buffalo meat, I was told, comes from a ranch in Colorado. Another source for buffalo meat is Elk Trails Bison Ranch, whose owner, Ronald Kipps, sells fast frozen cuts at the Union Square Market.
Menu:
Buffalo Burgers
Semi-soft Rolls
Tomato Slices
Roasted Potatoes
Wine: Bogle Vineyard Petit Sirah
Cherry Garcia Ice Cream
The burgers need little seasoning; a bit of freshly ground pepper will do. I sauté the burgers in hot oil-- rare for me and medium rare for George. Next, I sear the inside of the rolls in the remaining oil. I serve the burgers with slices of tomatoes,sprinkled with sea salt, and pan roasted potatoes, seasoned with rosemary leaves. George uses catsup.
Citarella
www.citarella.com
Elk Trails Ranch
www.elktrails.com
Our Daily Dinner
2 comments:
What I remember from the experience was being tricked by the ranch manager into using the feed truck to tour the pasture full of males. The bulls were ready to be reunited with their families after the birthing season and, expecting who knows what, surrounded our truck jumping up and down feverously. It took us a good hour of driving at a snail’s pace back and forth so as not to antagonize or god forbid nudge one of them in order to get back to the safety of the gate. Later that evening the Buffalo Burgers tasted somehow better for having experienced them close up.
Yes, and I remember there was one bull who stationed himself in front of the exit and wouldn't budge.
HS
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