Buffalo Meatballs

       As promised in my last post, I cooked the buffalo and was entirely pleased with the recipe I came up with. I wanted to really experience the flavor of the meat...not drown it with condiments or noodles or sauces, so burger, casserole, and stew dishes were out. Buffalo meat tastes a bit sweeter and more savory than beef. It was as if the animal I was eating was allowed to enjoy a nice, long, full and free life. I imagined my buffalo hanging out in his favorite patch of grass under his favorite tree watching his llama neighbors across the way make goofy faces at him (it was their game) before ambling over to catch the latest pasture gossip with his friends over at the watering hole. Words up that ole Jim went to the slaughter today. Jim knew it was coming, the rancher told him to go ahead and make his peace two weeks ago. His buffalo friends spent their afternoon reminiscing about what fun they and ole Jim had in his last couple of weeks.

Livin' the good life

       Again I digress. Here's how I made the Meatballs, I ended up with a dozen medium sized.

Ingredients

1 lb ground Buffalo meat

1 large egg

Handful of uncooked oatmeal

1/4 c chopped onion (about a quarter of a large onion)

1 chopped Serrano pepper 

1/4 c chopped fresh basil

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 1/2 tsp sea salt

3 good splashes of milk 

Dash of dried oregano

Dash of dried tarragon

A hearty splash of Worcestershire sauce

       Make sure your peppers, onions, and basil are chopped finely.

       Add the rest of the ingredients into a medium-large bowl and mix it all up until everything is evenly incorporated. Bare hands work best for meat mixing, just make sure you wash them well before and after.

       Here's my trick for getting meatballs to stay together and cook evenly: I use a mini muffin tin. Weigh the meat in your hands, shape into balls, and plop it right in. This is also great because it allows the grease to run off so your already light buffalo meat gets even lighter. Just be sure to put a pan or something on the rack below to catch the grease, I forgot to last night and had to have a woopsie mini grease fire adventure. My baking soda aim was impeccable and the meatballs were saved! 

I like having this cute little ceramic owl watch me while I cook

       Bake them in an oven preheated to 400 degrees fahrenheit for 25 minutes and turn them once halfway through. Oh yeah, I sprinkled some celery seeds on top of each one as a last step before baking, and I thought the effect was quite nice. Serve them with whatever you want. I chose spicy red beans and basmati rice along with buttered yellow squash as my sides and  iced sweetened cinnamon orange black tea to drink. I'll definitely be making these again.

P.S. If anyone reads this blog and ends up making these, please do tell me how they turned out and if you found anything to improve the recipe. Much thanks.