Thus Spake Russ

Posted By Russ Emerson on October 15, 2009 at 12:42 pm

I’m not saying it pertains to me. Oh, no, no.
But, seriously — Tabasco™ brand Habanero Sauce really, really ought to have a “Do not drink product directly from the bottle” warning label.
I’m not joking.
(Yes, I am.)

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I’ve been on a chili kick lately. I’ve done the math (sort of, in my head, just now) and I figure I’ve made about 15-20 pounds of chili over the course of the last three months. I’ve had chili for dinner, on average, about 2½ times a week.
Yes, I love chili.
This week, I’ve tried something a bit different. While trolling the aisles at the local BJ’s club store, I saw they had ground buffalo. I’ve wanted to try buffalo for quite a while.
Buffalo, not “bison.” Insisting on calling it “bison” irritates me just about as much as insisting on calling corn “maize.” It strikes me as being entirely too trendeigh.
At any rate, I picked up a couple of pounds of ground buffalo. It’s definitely on the pricey side compared to ground beef, but it is allegedly better for you than beef; it’s certainly leaner, as its advocates claim; as I browned it prior to adding it to the slow cooker, there was a good deal less fat rendered out. Into the slow cooker it went, along with the rest of the chili makings.
The verdict? If you’re making chili, save your money and use beef. Prior to adding the browned buffalo to the chili pot, I did give it a taste; the flavor difference between buffalo and beef was almost negligible, and was definitely overwhelmed by the chili seasonings I used. I suppose I expected something bolder, perhaps a bit gamier.
In a dish without so much heavy seasoning, though, I think buffalo would be pretty good. I have a pound in the fridge I’ll be making into hamburgers. I expect them to be tasty.

Categories: Cooking, Observations
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