Bison

[Liza]

We had a boneless roast for New Year's Eve and it was gorgeous. Bison is a much leaner red meat so we cooked it slow and low, and then cranked up real high just for kicks.

Purchased proudly at Union Square farmer's market from Elk Trails Bison Ranch - see the food section of NYT for a blurb on page 2.

[tommy]

my only exposure to bison is generally at diners and the "bison burger."  this is probably why i've never had it.  do any restaurants even serve it?

[Liza]

Good question! I haven't seen it but maybe that's because I haven't been looking.

[Jinmyo]

I've had bison burgers. Not to my taste. And "beefalo" "NY strips". Not to my taste either. But I'm usually game for game, although I find I'm usually not so into it after I've tried it 5 or 6 times.

So what's bison like? I know, I know. But please try to describe it.

[Fat Guy]

Tommy: It's served at Charlie Trotter's, among others.

Jinmyo: It tastes a little like beef, and a little like farm-raised venison (not the gamy, wild venison; I'm talking the mild stuff). But it's rarely as moist as either. I can't say I've ever enjoyed it more than I'd have enjoyed the equivalent cut of high-quality beef. In fact, I can't say I've ever enjoyed it much at all.

[Liza]

It's all in the cooking method. You've got to remember that bison is a much leaner meat, so a low and slow cooking method works to not toughen it too much. We thought it was really juicy and tender with a rather intense meat bite to it.  

I had the misfortune to try Bizurkey, a combination of bison and turkey, which no willing bison or turkey would allow. Avoid it.

[tommy]

Bizurkey, a combination of bison and turkey, which no willing bison or turkey would allow.

i know a guy who has that on video.  it's just not right. :shocked:

[macrosan]

Quote: from Liza on 2:11 pm on Jan. 3, 2002

Bizurkey, a combination of bison and turkey, which no willing bison or turkey would allow

If it was a male turkey, I guess the bison wouldn't notice. If it was the other way round, I guess the turkey would be ... well ... kinda dead.

I had bison years ago at a restaurant near Pittsfield, MA which specialized in weird meats. They also had kangaroo, alligator and ostrich, as I remember. The bison was tasteless and stringy, but it looked a great walnut-brown color on the plate.

Tommy, I think I have that video....

(Edited by macrosan at 3:08 pm on Jan. 3, 2002)

[Jinmyo]

Game as presented in most restaurants and recipes seems to be almost always served with some kind of fruit based sauce to provide flavour.

The meat itself lacks most of what I've grown accustomed to look for (and savour) in either grilled or braised beef, lamb, pork.

I want the fat. I do, I do, I do.

Bizurkey? Really? Hopefully a combination of ground meats rather than through gene splicing. ;)

-----

Okay, I've just done a Google search.

http://www.bisurkey.com

Spelt bisurkey but pronounced bizurkey.

(Edited by Jinmyo at 11:45 am on Jan. 3, 2002)

[Fat Guy]

I wonder if the Bisurkey folks would be willing to trade links with us.

[tommy]

you gotta love the tag line "what do you get when a bison and a turkey fall madly in love?"

i'm looking at the site, and i see that for a serving size of 3.5 ounces, Bison has 62 mg. of cholesterol, turkey has 65 mg, and the bisurkey, which is a mix of the two has only 62 mg.  this tells me that there's:

1)  very little turkey

2)  some filler (which they claim there isn't)

3)  not enough significant digits in the stats to give them much meaning.

4)  someone is not telling the whole truth!

they also claim it is "award-winning".  any idea what type of award is given out for strangely named meat products?

ok, enough from me.

[OB]

Winner of the California Restauran Association INNOVATOR AWARD in the Healthy Foods category

Too funny if you ask me...

Tom

[macrosan]

Winner of the George Orwell Four Legs Good, Two Legs Bad, So Let's Split the Difference Award

[Jinmyo]

Bisurkey rations are up to 12 grams this week. Double plus good! We have never been at war with Eurasia. Eurasia has always been our friend in our fight against the tyrannical hordes of Oceania. Jif peanut butter is on sale in aisle two. There has never been an aisle one. Bisurkey rati...

[Jinmyo]

Ted Turner is going to open a chain of bison burger restaurants called "Ted's Montana Grill". The first opens mid-January in Columbus, Ohio. It will feature 25 different kinds of bison burger. He plans to open a total of 10 this year.

Turner has 14 ranches and 30,000 animals.

[jhlurie]

Ted Turner is going to open a chain of bison burger restaurants called "Ted's Montana Grill". The first opens mid-January in Columbus, Ohio. It will feature 25 different kinds of bison burger. He plans to open a total of 10 this year.<p>Turner has 14 ranches and 30,000 animals.

Does anyone know what happened with this venture?

[Suzanne F]

There was something about it a few weeks ago in Nation's Restaurant News -- an issue which I probably have already chucked.

And the previous week, there was another article about an independent restaurant in Colorado named "Montana's Grill" that does NOT serve bison, but gets confused with Ted's. By now, though, you have to pay to see that article.

To go back to Tommy's question: the one and only time we ate at Michael Jordan's The Steakhouse in Grand Central Terminal, we had a bison roast for 2. It was pretty good -- moist and flavorful -- definitely better than the other stuff we tried there. But that was a couple of years ago.