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Omnivoria:
The “Other” Red Meat
by Nathaniel Orion Cousins, M.D., J.D (retired), from the May 2006 newsletter
Two hundred years ago, when our great nation was still wet behind the ears, mighty herds covered the central plains of our continent. These herds were made up of American Bison, also known (erroneously) as Buffalo. They were well adapted to their environment, and by the early 1800s, their population is estimated to have been 60-100 million animals. By the end of the 19th century, commercial hunting had reduced this number to less than 1,000. Fortunately, humanity was able to reverse its course in time to prevent extinction of this noble animal, and today there are estimated to be at least 350,000 American Bison, with at least 250,000 of those being raised for human consumption. This is excellent news for us at the Co-op, since it makes it that much easier for our meat department to carry fresh bison.
I certainly consider it excellent news for me. I brought home a nice little 2-pound bison chuck roast, and cooked it up ala pot roast in my slow cooker. Wow! It was likely the tenderest meat I have ever cooked at home. I was unable to track down another source of fresh bison to compare in time for this article, but it sure beat any comparable beef roast for flavor and tenderness. Bison meat is naturally lower in fats and connective tissues than beef, so it stays tender and also manages to carry plenty of its own rich flavor without the fat. The flavor is not unlike that of beef, but it is indeed a more vital flavor.
The bison we carry in our meat department is brought to us by Brown’s Bison Ranch through a cooperatively owned processing plant called Northwest Premium Meats, out of Nampa, Idaho. This cooperative was started by Tim Brown, of the aforementioned ranch, and his wife, Debbie. They realized that the best path to growth and profitability for their business lay in slaughtering, processing, and selling their products themselves. They were able to team up with other bison and beef ranchers to purchase the NW Premium Meats plant in August of 2001, and have been quite successful with it ever since.
I find this very interesting. In my first three articles I wrote of meat growers who brought other growers into their own cooperative to grow a single brand. Here, we have multiple brands grouping together to share in costs and bounties of processing and marketing their own products. Once again, it is very nice to have a feel for where my dollars as a consumer go, and even nicer to see those dollars staying in Idaho.
I am including the recipe I made up cooking bison at home. This is merely the tip of the iceberg. I would highly encourage anyone interested in this meat product to check out bisoncentral.com, the website for the National Bison Association. It is full of information about the animal and its meat and hide products. It also has an excellent section on cooking and health. If you like red meat, you owe it to yourself to drop by our meat department and give our bison its day in court. You will not be sorry.
Nathaniel Cousins was raised on the Palouse. Several years of living in Eugene, Seattle, and Portland have proven to him there is no finer place to live than our rolling Palouse hills.
Simple Bison Pot Roast (Slow-cooker Style)
(Serves 3-4)
2-2 1/2 lbs. bison chuck roast
1 large onion, diced large
2 cups frozen corn, whole kernels
1 10-oz. can tomato soup
3-4 medium red potatoes, quartered
Combine all ingredients in slow cooker; start the cooker on high. Forget to turn the cooker down to low when you leave for your evening work. Come home six hours later to a perfectly cooked, if somewhat well-done, pot roast. This is how it went for me. Probably, 1 hour on high and 4-5 hours on low would work just as well. Cooking doneness for bison is the same as beef, so I would just say keep an eye on it towards the end and turn off the cooker when the roast is close to as done as you want. Serve with a tossed green salad and cornbread or biscuits for a meal that is about as American as it gets. Alternately, you could cut the roast into stew sized pieces and go that route. I am sure the meat would be just as tender and delicious.
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