Since we live near France and they are very big on their wild game from birds to meats, I buy a lot of different kind of meat as it is not to overpriced and it is something you can afford to do once a week during gaming season. Obviously the bison I buy is shipped in from Canada, we don’t see buffalo wandering over the mountains here and my jaw would hit the floor if I ever did.We are lucky though because every thing else is farmed locally. I will try just about anything once although the French have me beat, Horse is a very common meat, just like beef and lamb, and I have to say I just can’t bring myself to try it. I know it’s quite a hypocritical thing to say as I don’t mind eating chicken or beef or lamb which are cute when there young, but the thought of killing a horse and cutting it up for food just seems wrong.

Ingredients

600g Bison round roast (I was only cooking for 2 you will need 1.4-1.8kg for 4-6 people.)

All other ingredients are for 4-6 people
1 Tablespoon butter
2 Tablespoons shallots, finely chopped
1/2 Cup orange juice
1/2 Cup marmalade (Generous Half cup)
1/2 Cup Balsamic vinegar
2 Tablespoons Sugar
1 Teaspoon ground black pepper
1 Teaspoon thyme

For the gravy

2/3 Cup red wine
1/4 Cup Madeira
1/2 Teaspoon beef stock granules (my stock is quite dense so you may have to adjust amount depending on what you use.)
11/2 Tablespoons Bisto gravy granules

Roast Garlic Brussel Sprouts with Pancetta

Olive oil
500g Brussel sprouts
3 cloves garlic, crushed
6 Slices pancetta, chopped (discard any bits which are predominately fat)

Method

1. Melt butter in a pan, add shallots and cook until soft and browned. Add orange juice, marmalade, vinegar, pepper, sugar and thyme.

2. Bring to boil then reduce heat and simmer about 25-30 Min’s stirring occasionally, to thicken and reduce liquid amount. Remove from heat and set to one side, this is going to be the glaze for the meat. You can make this ahead of time if preferred and store in fridge until needed.

3. Heat a small amount of oil in a pan sear buffalo roast on both sides, transfer to a roasting tin and add half cup of water. I like to roast my meat in a very slow oven for a few hours and then turn it up to slow-moderately slow. Buffalo is very lean and to have perfect tender buffalo it should be cooked low and slow.

4. I begin brushing roast with glaze about an hour into cooking and continue to brush with glaze every 20 Min’s or so until cooked.

5. As a general guide line it should be about 125 Fahrenheit for rare and about 138 Fahrenheit for medium-rare when meat thermometer is inserted. You should also let the roast rest about 15 Min’s before carving.

6. If you are someone who can only eat well done meat then I would suggest finding a crock pot roast recipe where the meat is cooked all day and just falls apart and you don’t have to worry about overcooking. Buffalo steaks or roasts, should never be cooked well done you will get the same result as with any other meat you overcook, it will have the same palatability as an old boot.

7. While roast is resting, Place roasting pan over burners on stove leaving all the juices in pan, there should be quite a bit of liquid from water and glaze, leave this as it gives the gravy a lovely flavour. Add both the wines and beef stock stir over heat for a couple of minutes to deglaze, scrape up any brown bits. Add bisto granules and stir until mixture boils and thickens.

For the Sprouts

1. Leave any small sprouts whole and halve the medium ones, place in oven dish drizzle olive oil all over them and add crushed garlic mix to combine sprouts, oil and garlic. Place chopped pancetta over top of sprouts dividing equally.

2. Bake in 200c oven for about 20-25 Min’s until sprouts are browned on edges and tender. Add a few tablespoons of water and mix scraping up any brown bits, serve immediately.

To serve: Carve roast, place a few slices of meat on each plate top with gravy and serve with sprouts and sweet potato mash on the side.

All photo’s taken by me unless otherwise stated.