Buffalo hunting

“Oh, give me a home / where the buffalo roam” … right onto my plate. Yum.
With the turn of the year and the end of the holidays, thoughts of more healthful eating rise to the forefront — if they can get past the expanding waistline. For omnivores who like red meat but want to cut down on fat, buffalo — or American bison, more accurately — makes a leaner, healthier alternative.

A North Dakota study, touted on the National Bison Association’s Website, showed that bison meat had far less fat (2.5g) and fewer calories (143) per serving than beef, pork, chicken or even salmon, while delivering comparable levels of protein (28g) and more iron (3.5mg).

Besides that, those shaggy beasts of the North American plains make for darned good eatin’.
The SAWTOOTH GRILL (at River Park Square) began serving bison burgers more than a year ago, and they’ve proven so popular that the restaurant expanded its bison offerings to include steaks and stews as well. You can get your bison burger four ways (classic, Italian, garlic or patty melt, $11-$13), sample a warming bison stew or stroganoff ($16), or go for the Cowboy Bison New York steak ($24). And locavores take note: The steaks and stew meat come from Windy Point Ranch in Greenacres. (The ground bison grazed in North Dakota.)

In the stroganoff, wide pappardelle noodles curl around garlicky, tender, braised chunks of meat, mushroom slices and pieces of roasted onion in a savory creamy sauce. The generous bowl is topped with a frizzle of green onion and an extra dollop of sour cream.

On the West Plains, THE RUSTY MOOSE will let you substitute a buffalo burger for any of their Angus burger preparations ($10-$15). Downtown, SCRATCH offers bison prepared a couple of different ways: a basic bison burger, topped with grilled onion, lettuce, tomato and touch of bleu cheese ($12), or the far-from-basic bison carpaccio appetizer (thinly shaved slices of raw meat topped with olive oil, herbs and sundried tomatoes, served with stone-ground mustard, $8).
At VIN ROUGE on the South Hill, Chef Tim Hartman moves bison on and off the dinner menu depending on seasonal whim and availability. It showed up most recently as a grilled bison New York strip steak, served with mashed Yukon Golds, caramelized onions and his signature Montana whiskey sauce. The situation is similar at HILLS’ RESTAURANT downtown, where Chef Dave Hill will occasionally run a bison special.

If you want to buy some bison and cook it yourself, you’ll find it at HUCKLEBERRY’S meat department and behind the counter at EGGERS MEATS. (Huckleberry’s also serves a bison burger at its 9th Avenue Bistro.) Because the meat is so lean, you’ll need to take care not to overcook bison; “low and slow” are the key words, according to the National Bison Association, which offers recipes and cooking tips online.

And, no, these buffalo don’t have wings.

— ANN M. COLFORD