I don’t eat red meat. I cut it out of my diet when I was 14 due to the high saturated fat content. It’s just not a very heart friendly protein. Now I avoid it for additional reasons (high up on the food chain, usually contaminated with things I don’t want to consume like growth hormones, antibiotics, pesticides, and often cows are raised in a way I don’t want to support). But both times I was pregnant, I was anemic. So I ate red meat.
This is when I first discovered the “other red meat.” Buffalo. It’s leaner than beef. And as far as I know, most buffalo are raised better than cows. It tastes a little gamey, but it’s a good alternative. Now that I’m not pregnant, I’ve gone back to basically avoiding red meat. But there is one recipe of my grandmother’s that I love and it calls for beef. And I can’t substitute turkey like I usually do because it calls for chunks and not ground beef. I’m including the family recipe below, but I recommend using buffalo instead. The meat is cooked for so long that it’s super tender and hardly tastes gamey at all. And the sauce is to die for. Chestnuts are hard to find, so you can make it without, but when you can add them, this is one of the tastiest dishes.
Ingredients:
- 3 onions, sliced
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 2-3 lb buffalo meat, cut in 1 inch cubes
- 1 package of chestnuts (1-2 lbs)
- 1/2 cup brandy
- 1 cup orange juice (use fresh squeezed if you can)
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp cloves
- 1/2 tsp allspice
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1 package prunes (about 2 cups)
- 1/2 tbsp sugar
Instructions:
- Brown onions and meat in the olive oil.
- Add all other ingredients. If using a pressure cooker, bring to boil and simmer for 30 min. If not, boil and simmer for 2+ hours with the lid on until meat is very soft. You may need to add additional liquids.
