American buffalo (bison) burger made with ground buffalo meat seasoned with sage and topped with smoky barbecue sauce.
BE PICTURED IN; CHARACTERIZED IN:
sing along! ♪ Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam ♫ … and the deer and the antelope play; where seldom is a discouraging word heard and the sky is not overcast all day. ♫
When you’re enjoying an all-American buffalo burger, what better song than Home on the Range?
And yes, this is more accurately called a bison burger. For the record, we’re talking about an American buffalo (bison) and not an Asiatic buffalo. Once upon a time, few American buffalo survived, but they are now not endangered, and enterprising ranchers are raising bison as a leaner alternative to beef.
Have you ever eaten bison?
Imagine a really lean, deep red, grass-fed beef. If you like the taste of a good steak or beef burger, you’ll love Buffalo.
Ground buffalo is not that expensive and is readily available in good supermarkets. We have ours at Whole Foods. There are also several online retailers that sell it.
You can cook buffalo similar to lean grass-fed beef. For this burger we decided to stick with the western cowboy theme and tossed the burger with lots of sage and smoky barbecue sauce.
Do you have a favorite way to cook bison? Please let us know in the comments.
CONTINUE READING:
Bison Burger
ingredients
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2 lb ground bison (Buffalo)
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2 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage
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1 1/2 teaspoon Salt
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2 teaspoon black pepper
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1/2 Onion, finely chopped
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2 tablespoon Extra virgin olive oil
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Smokey Barbecue Sauce
method
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Cooking onions:
Sauté the onions in olive oil over medium heat until translucent. Turn off the heat and let it cool down.
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Mix onions, sage, salt, pepper in minced bison:
When the onions are cool enough to touch, gently mix them into the bison burger meat with your (clean) hands and add everything else.
Don’t overwork the meat, it will result in a chewy burger. Simply fold in gently until the onions, sage, salt and pepper are well combined.
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Shape patties:
Form the meat into patties, using about 1/4 to 1/3 pound of meat per patty.
Here’s a tip for making the patty: Pressing a slight indentation in the center of each patty will keep the burgers in a nice disk shape as they cook. Otherwise the burger will be a bit egg-shaped as the edges will contract when frying.
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Grill or fry burgers:
Grill or sear the burgers over medium-high heat, about 6-7 minutes per side, less or more depending on the thickness of the burger and the heat of the pan/grill, or until the internal temperature is 140°F for Medium Rare, or 160° F for well done.
A note on the indoor temperature. If you get the ground beef from a trusted source (we got ours from Whole Foods) that grinds on-site, or if you grind your own beef, you can safely cook the burgers rare or medium. Otherwise, you want to cook the burgers until well done.
Don’t press down on your burgers while frying and keep turning to a minimum.
Let the burgers rest for about 5 minutes before serving.
Serve the burger with lettuce and tomato, topped with a smoky barbecue sauce.
Links:
Home page on the Wikipedia entry section
Bison Basics from bisonbasics.com
Grilled Barbecue Bison Burger from Aggie’s Kitchen
Bison Burger with Cheddar and Onions by gas•tron•o•my
| nutritional information (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 304 | calories |
| 21g | Fat |
| 1g | carbohydrates |
| 27g | protein |
