Beef-and-barley stew (Clay Day, 12th of Snowy, Year 226)

[neotoma]

Beef-and-barley stew made with water buffalo is just as good as when it's made with bison. I do need to buy more barley and more beef bullion before I make it again, but I have enough for the week and a bit.

Also, the giant loaf of sourdough is extremely tasty and goes well with the stew.

Comments

[lilacsigil]

I've never eaten water buffalo or bison! Do you need to add more fat to compensate for the leaner meat, or is the taste strong enough anyway?

[neotoma]

My recipe has you brown the meat (just regular beef in the recipe) in olive oil, and use olive oil to saute the root vegetables and the mushrooms.

The water buffalo wasn't that much different from beef in taste, but my experience with bison is that it is like beef, but beefier. It may be that bison are only eating grass and hay (apparently they won't eat grain), and you'd get a similar taste from beef cattle that are pasture-fed their entire lives; I genuinely prefer the taste of bison to beef, and regret that the farm I used to buy from doesn't come to my market anymore.