Buffalo Stance

When last we talked, I was in a meat substitution quandary. As you may recall, I'm writing a column on swapping meats in traditional recipes. I recently made Bison Bourguignon and had a decision to make: whether to consult a bison-specific recipe or use a beef one and substitute bison.

After receiving some expert advice from Canadian reader and bison ethusiast "Al," I went with Julia Child's beef recipe. While bison is leaner and prone to drying out, that wouldn't be a problem when cooking in liquids as in a bourguignon, he wrote.

Of course, it being a bit of a fancy pants recipe, it took a bit longer than I'd hoped. The Spoonstress made a heck of an herb bouquet, using cheesecloth we hadn't seen since making horchata. She said it looked like an herb diaper--I suppose we're not gourmands. Anyway, let's just say I was glad we didn't have guests over waiting until 10 to eat.

In the end, the dish was the savory salvation to a night's worth of waiting. I'm not sure the bison was an improvement over beef cubes, but it gave us an interesting topic of conversation during those hours of preperation. Plus, I now have a Canadian reader or two.