A recent trip to our food co-op turned up a neat surprise. Locally raised buffalo! Carolina Bison Company near Asheville, NC maintains a herd of around 300 buffalo, and now distributes to the public. I've only had bison on a few occasions, and only in restaurants. It's a much leaner meat than typical ground beef, so it should be interesting to cook with.
Let's see what this lean red meat does in some empanadas, shall we? They're a little tedious to put together, but the actual cooking is quite easy and absolutely worth it.
Buffalo Empanadas
1 lb. ground bison
1 T vegetable oil
1 red onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 t paprika
1 t cumin
1 t red pepper flakes (or less, depending on taste)
1 T white wine vinegar
salt & pepper
1 package of puff pasty
1 beaten egg
1. Start by heating the vegetable oil in a skillet. Once warm, add the onion, garlic & a bit of salt and let it sweat.
3. After the meat is thoroughly cooked, add the paprika, cumin, red pepper, vinegar, and salt & pepper to taste. It should be just slightly spicy. Set aside on a plate covered with paper towels and allow to cool and drain.
Little bit of green onion on top if you'd like -- eat them while they're hot! Of course, you could just use beef or pork instead of bison, but where's the fun in that? Maybe next time I'll get even more adventurous and make my own dough for these empanadas.
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