Buffalo meat chili recipe

Chili season should be here but the warm weather is lingering .

I couldn't wait any longer and made a big pot yesterday..

I went looking for chili over the weekend at some of the places that serve it only seasonally and sampled the buffalo chili at Bubba's Texas Burger Shack on Westpark (Houston), which has amazingly survived the Westpark Toll Rd. construction and is still in business.

It was pretty good; a lot greasier than I expected, since buffalo is leaner than beef. Natch, I convinced myself I could do better at home , but haven't found a recipe in any of my books.

Anybody got one . I know how to Google and several recipe sites, just wondering if any Roadfooder has one they've used and know is good .

Do you use extra fat to compensate for the leanness of buffalo? Any different spices suggested with buffalo v. beef? Does Mayhaw Man think I should add beans . (We need a smilie for 'preemptive strike').

hermitt, if you WANT the grease, then go to your butcher's and ask for some REAL suet. Render that before adding the buffalo meat, and it'll WORK. If you don't want the grease, then just season the pan with a little oil/grease to brown the meat, then pour in a can/box of beef stock before continuing the process. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM, CHILI.

Although I cooked quite a bit of buffalo while I lived in MI (there was a herd nearby) I never made chili out of it. I have, however, made it out of moose meat (just as lean as buffalo) and proceded in the usual way as with beef. It was excellent. I used the same seasonings, etc. (I will not divulge whether or not I used beans, them'z fightin words here). Bushie is right, if you need more fat flavor, add it. Moose, actually, happens to be one of my favorite meats (better than beef, lamb and buffalo IMHO) because it's extremely tender and flavorfull and does not have a lot of fat. Trust me, these suckers can RUN, I've been chased by more than one! YIKES!

Thanks for the tip, Bushie. I was thinking about the suet but not the beef flavoring. Haven't been too impressed with buffalo v. beef, but just thought I'd experiment and see what I can come up with.

lleechef - interesting. Don't know if I can find moose here; how does it differ from venison?

Looks like it's going to be a very mild winter, so I'm thinking of making several batches of chili with various meats to freeze and keep around for a quick fix.

Lleechef .... did ya kill that Buffalo wid yer .22 ???? And why were you being chased by one ..... were you roller skating in a buffalo herd again ???


Hermit ... a moose has big flat antlers and venison .... OH !! you're talking about taste !!!

Actually I have had Buffalo and it was excellent ! Ted Turner is big into Bison ranching, and I think I read somewhere that he was going to open a chain of resturants that served Buffalo meat !!

Haven't had Moose meat !! But I'd eat some given half a chance !!!

BTW ~ I don't have any recipes for buffalo chili .... so I guess I have nothing to offer !!!

scbuzz, how did you know I was rollerskating thru the buffalo herd Shucks, nothing is sacred any more. And no, I did not kill the moose with the .22, I used a rifle this time out on the Nabesna River in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. This is the largest national park in the US, by the way, with 13 million acres.

Moose is not so very different from venison, it is a little leaner though and the meat is darker but not stronger. We don't have white-tailed deer here, but a different species called Sitka black-tail, they only get to 100 lbs. or so, very small. Every cut on that animal is as tender as filet mignon. Really. So I've never made chili out of Sitka deer, it's just too delicious.

Other meats that work equally as well for chili are elk, caribou and musk ox since you can use the "less noble" cuts for stewing purposes. So, hermitt4d, just get yourself some buffalo meat and experiment......you don't need no stinkin recipe!

About being chased by moose......well, the cows tend to get in REAL BAD MOODS during rut (mating season) and will chase away anything that gets close to them. (Are they crazy?) As I happen to like jogging and walking backwoods trails, I have been chased by a half-dozen or so cows this fall.

Thanks for all the tips. I've got three working burners on my stove which neatly matches the number of pots I've got suitable for chili (2 cast iron and 1 calphalon). The batch I made earlier this week is almost all gone and a chili marathon is in the works for this weekend.

I'll have to see what meats I can come up with at local butcher shops .