Who knew.

Who knew that with all the posting I have done over the past couple of days that the Bison meat would be drawing the most attention.

I guess I should clear up some of the confusion, answer some of the questions and share the funny story.

In Crazy Town we have two grocery stores: an IGA and a "Haaaavest Maaaaket" (yes, you have to say it like that, no r's, it's haaaaaavest). Both are overpriced and understocked. But when I am low on groceries and need to grab something for dinner it is either go to one of those or drive 20 miles to the closest "real" grocery store.

Tuesday I decided we were going to have beef stew for dinner. It's easy enough, the kids (usually) eat it AND I had enough beer in the fridge to use as beef broth (the beer has been there since camp and wasn't going anywhere - in fact one bottle had been leaning against the back of the fridge, had frozen and exploded all over the inside).

So Andrew and I took a walk to Haaaavest Maaaket and grabbed some groceries. Shopping with Andrew is never fun. He runs, he yells, he touches EVERYTHING and he doesn't sit in a cart (in all honesty, I can't get him into a cart, that child weighs too much for me to lift him into the seat). I was frustrated within a few minutes and knowing that I had to walk home with two bags of potatoes and carrots was only adding to the frustration.

I'm standing in the butcher's department looking for beef stewing meat and I can't find it. I search and search and search. I find the bison meat, no beef.

I say to the woman, "I'm looking for the beef stewing meat, I see bison, no beef"

Crazy woman: "Well, I hear really good things about bison."

Me: "yes, but I am looking for the beef"

CW: "it is supposed to be really healthy for you"

Me: "I have heard, but I am still looking for the beef"

CW: "I hear it tastes good too"

Me: "I know, but really, I am just looking for the beef"

CW: "Ooooooh, and look, it's on special"

At which point in time Andrew has tried to stick his fingers through every package of meat in the butcher's department so I give up. I grabbed the bison meat and prayed. And just an FYI, "special" for bison meat really means the price is dropped to just about what you would pay for Angus stewing beef.

I get home and pull everything together, cut the meat (which is VERY bloody), brown the meat, throw the meat in the stew (no, Sometimes Sophia, I do not have a recipe, I don't work with them...just throw it all together....I think THAT is the reason I am such a lousy BAKER though I can cook pretty darn well) . 8 hours later I try the stew with the YUMMY homemade bread bowls I made and it was delicious. Tasted just like beef.

The kids didn't eat a single bite. A knew it was bison and told Z. Z watched me put the beer in and thought I was trying to poison him (the alcohol burns off, but try explaining that to an 8 year old).

So, the reason for ME substituting bison was probably very different than anyone else's reason. The link I provided above claims that it is leaner than both beef and chicken but I didn't get a protein count. You can probably use it as a substitute in anywhere you would use beef (although my brother-in-law says that when he tried it he thought it was dry, so maybe not a burger). I found this site for bison meat recipes, give it a shot and let me know what you think.