Dinner: Bison and Red Wine Shepherd's Pie

Recipe by Bruce Aidells Bison (a.k.a. buffalo) is available at some natural foods stores, specialty foods stores, and farmers' markets.

Ingredients

1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon Hungarian sweet paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 1/2 pounds bison or beef short ribs or 2 1/2 pounds boneless chuck, cut into 2-inch cubes
1/3 pound rindless slab bacon, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices
2 tablespoons (or more) olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup peeled chopped carrot
1/2 cup chopped celery
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 cups dry red wine (such as Syrah)
2 2/3 cups low-salt chicken broth
1 cup canned crushed tomatoes
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage
10 ounces pearl onions
1 1/2 cups 3/4-inch cubes peeled parsnips
12 baby turnips, trimmed, peeled

Instructions

Whisk first 4 ingredients in large bowl. Add bison; toss. Heat large pot over medium heat. Add bacon; cook until crisp. Transfer to paper towels. Add 2 tablespoons oil to pot; increase heat to medium-high. Working in batches, cook bison until browned, adding more oil by tablespoonfuls as needed. Return to same bowl. Add chopped onion, carrot, celery, and garlic to pot; cover and cook until vegetables soften, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Add wine; bring to boil, scraping up any browned bits. Add broth, tomatoes, bay leaves, thyme, sage, reserved bacon, and bison. Reduce heat to low. Cover; simmer until bison is tender, stirring occasionally, about 2 hours (beef may take 1 1/2 hours).
Meanwhile, cook pearl onions in large saucepan of boiling salted water 2 minutes. Transfer to bowl of ice water; trim and peel.
Transfer bison to rimmed baking sheet. Cut meat off bones; cut meat into 3/4-inch cubes. Add parsnips and turnips to pot with bison sauce. Simmer until tender, stirring occasionally, 10 to 15 minutes. Add pearl onions; cook 5 minutes. Return meat to pot. Season with salt and pepper.

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