So what's for dinner?

Buffalo! Burgers, that is. My parents came through last week and my dad brought me a few packages of buffalo meat that a friend of his had given him. I've never had buffalo before but I have heard that it's a great meat, very lean and tasty! Yesterday, I took out a package of buffalo to thaw out. I knew that I wanted to find a recipe that would be very tasty and unique. After a bit of searching, this is what I came up with:

Buffalo Burger Recipe: from http://www.chow.com/recipes/18752-buffalo-burger

TIME/SERVINGS

Total: 30 minutes prep

Active: about 20-25 minutes cooking

Makes: 4 patties (about 1/3 lb. each)

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 lbs. of ground Buffalo
3 or 4 sun-dried tomatoes, coarsely chopped
2-4 garlic cloves, minced
1 med. onion, minced
2 Tbsp. of “Organic All Purpose” seasoning different herbs and spices in it.Or make up your
own blend.
Cheese-your choice of types and thicknesses
1/4 cup red wine
couple dashes of Lee & Perrins
1 lb. of 'shrooms, sliced

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Have a bowl big enough to hold the meat. Put the wine and Lee- & Perrins in the bowl.Chop the sun-dried tomatoes, and put that in with the liquid.

2. Put minced onions, half of the 'shrooms in hot oil, salt 'em a bit, and cook until until they
soften. When softened, put in garlic, seasonings and some fresh ground Black Pepper until
“aromatic”, about 15 seconds or so. Set them on paper towel to cool. When cooled (room temp or
so), put them in the liquid.

3. Put the Buffalo meat in the bowl and “massage” the liquids, sun-dried tomato, herbs and spices into it. When thoroughly integrated, make into patties. 1 1/2 lbs. will make 4 for me, but you might like yours bigger or smaller.

4. Pre-heat oven to 350. Have a middle rack.


Put patties on a hot, oiled skillet/griddle/grill and let them cook about 5 minutes and then flip
them (carefully of course). Make sure they are starting to brown (about 2 minutes) then put them in oven. With 4 burgers, it will take about 15 minutes (about 160 F). At 12-13 minutes, put the cheese on them, and back in the oven. Bring 'em out at 15 minutes or so, cover 'em and let 'em rest a couple of minutes while you get plates etc. ready.

1. Use remaining half-pound of 'shrooms for a gravy mix if you like, OR, put them under the cheese on top of the patties then back in the oven. Or, just use all of the 'shrooms for a gravy.

Here's what I did differently:

• used soy sauce because I didn't have Lee and Perrins
• Omitted the cheese
• added additional sun-dried tomatoes
• Made 8 patties with 24 oz of buffalo meat

I was really impressed with how lean this ground meat was. There was almost no visible fat in the meat and it did not put out a lot of grease when cooking.

I would not recommend cooking these on the grill unless you add some sort of binder to the meat mixture. It is very lean and while it held together in the saute pan and in the oven, I don't think it would over an open grill.

Yum! Photos below with and without a bun. The red is ketchup the Dan added to his plate. Topping the burger is a mix of mushrooms and onions sauteed together with a bit of red wine. I also sliced some potatoes on the mandoline and seasoned them with a little bit of olive oil, seasoning salt, fresh rosemary and sliced onions. I love my mandoline! Slicing the potatoes very thin allows them to cook quickly, a plus when you are in a hurry. I had some fruit for dessert. This is a keeper recipe! I'm glad I have a few more packages of buffalo!

Here's a mandoline. Mine has an insert to julienne vegetables if you wanted.