Buffalo Cranberry & Wine Sausage With Pork

Buffalo Sausage with Mushrooms     ©Diane Eblin

Buffalo Sausage with Mushrooms ©Diane Eblin

Whenever I cook vegetables for my husband I have to do a good job of either hiding them or making sure they are part of the dish.  They do not over power the dish with their taste and texture.  I guess that’s the same thing as hiding them.  I’m really working on getting more vegetables, fruits and safe grains into our diet and cut down on the meats.  One meat I’ve been noticing gaining more interest is Bison or Buffalo. I thought this would be a great addition to this evenings meal.

Recently at one of my local farmers markets I came across Cibola Farms selling Buffalo meat and free-range pork.   Hmm, that got my attention real quick.  Time to investigate.  I grabbed a handful of their brochures and asked the first question I always ask, are your products gluten free.  The reply was yes.  Everything is labeled.  If there is anything with any gluten it will say it on the label.  Cool, they knew what I was talking about.  Then I asked what else was or was not in the meat.  This is taken right from the brochure, “Cibola Farms Meats are free of growth stimulants, steroids, growth hormones and antibiotics.  No chemical or animal bi-product is fed to produce these 100% natural meats. ” Now they really had my attention.   I read more of their information, asked more questions and looked through their scrapbook to see what their pastures and livestock looked like.  Impressive.  But, what would it taste like?  So I bought a few different types of sausages, hot dogs and some ground buffalo.  I also bought some of their pork products.

National Bison Association Nutritional Chart

National Bison Association Nutritional Chart

I wanted to know more about the nutritional values of this lean meat and found information and a table comparing the fat, calories, protein, B-12 and iron content to other proteins.  The National Bison Association website also provides cooking tips and more information on health benefits.

I also ran across the KC Buffalo website that shared this information on buffalo.  “Buffalo meat has as much calcium as a 6 oz. glass of milk, as much potassium as a medium banana, and contains vitamins B6 and B12.” This is sounding like a better choice for me than beef.

Tonight I pulled out the Italian sausage thinking it was buffalo and realized it was pork.  Threw that back and grabbed the next package becuase I really wanted buffalo.  This just sounded great and let me tell you, tasted great.  Buffalo, Cranberry & Wine Sausage with Pork.  The flavor was complex with layers of wonderful tastes.  The aroma was amazing.

So I cooked dinner and we served this dish with a nice glass of red wine.  However, Brad took one look at it and said, “What am I having for dinner?”  My reply was That Fish.  We’re still working on his taste for vegetables.  The real test was going to be my husband.  This dish does have a lot of vegetables and pasta and only a little bit of meat.  He loved it and said it was company worthy.  That is high praise around here.  Anything good enough to serve to company means, please make this again.  So Buffalo was a hit and it will be on our table again!

Ingredients:

4 links  Buffalo Cranberry & Wine Sausage with pork -Cibola Farms

1 organic yellow onion sliced

1 organic yellow squash sliced

1 organic zucchini sliced

12 cremini mushrooms, stems removed and sliced

12 shitake mushrooms, stems removed and sliced

2 cloves garlic chopped

5 fresh sage leaves chopped

8 sprigs of lemon thyme or plain just taken of stem

handful fresh basil leaves, chiffonade (roll up the leaves and slice to give you chiffonades)

1/2 tsp caraway seeds

1 cup mushroom stock (can sub other)

1 tsp arrowroot to make slurry

Celtic Sea Salt and Pepper to taste

Virgin organic coconut oil

Extra virgin olive oil

2 large handfuls of cooked spaghetti (mine is quinoa)

Directions:

Prep all of your vegetables.  Next heat up your wok or large frying pan with sides.  Add in the oils and toss in your onions.  When they turn translucent add in the squash and zucchini.  After they cook down add in the mushrooms.  Now everything should start to brown a little.  Add in the garlic, thyme, sage and caraway seeds.  Combine well.  Now with my wok I pushed the vegetable mix to the sides and placed the buffalo sausage that was cut into chunks into the bottom of the wok.  I let that cook up and brown.  Keep it moving so it doesn’t burn.  Now I added in the cooked spaghetti and get everything combined.  Again, make a space in the bottom or middle of your pan to add in the mushroom stock.  Once that starts to boil, add in your arrowroot slurry.  This is made by mixing the arrowroot with cold water and stir well.  Once you add this to the liquid in the pan keep stirring or clumps can form.  It will thicken fast.  Now toss in your basil and combine.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  That means add it and then taste it before serving.

Empty your pan onto a nice large serving platter and serve.  If you eat dairy a little shaved parmesean would be a nice topping.

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