Paleo Day 9 - Om nom nom nom…
That was the single most delectable thing I’ve eaten since switching to the Paleo diet, and in all honesty, for some time before switching as well.
I set out to make Bison burgers with the ground bison meat I found at Giant the other day (and immediately grabbed with joy because bison meat is incredible). I checked out a bunch of different Paleo burger recipes just to get a general gist of how to make them, took some ideas from each and ran with it. Not all the quantities were exact, I didn’t measure everything out. Plus, everyone has different heat tolerances… if I’ve learned anything this week, it’s to go with your gut when cooking. If it seems like a recipe calls for too much cayenne or pepper or anything, then cut it back. What I ended up with were more like Bison Meatcakes than burgers, because I didn’t really flatten them down enough before I started to cook them and they just puffed up more as they cooked. But I digress. Here’s the approximate recipe I followed, posted for posterity.
Amazing Bison Meatcakes (or Burgers)
1 lb Ground Bison meat
2-3 large Garlic cloves, chopped
1 medium sized Shallot, chopped
Some chopped green bell peppers (to taste - they don’t really cook down too much, so they give it a bit of a crunch. I liked it, you might not.)
1 egg, lightly scrambled
1T Butter (optional)
Seasonings (add as much or as little as you like, I added roughly 1/2t of each)
- Paprika
- Crushed red pepper
- Cracked black pepper
- Onion powder
- Chili powder
- Sea salt
Put everything except the butter in a large mixing bowl and combine the ingredients (use your hands like a true caveman/cavewoman!) and then divide into patties. In a large frying pan (that has a lid), melt the butter if you’d like - once I started cooking these I found I probably didn’t really need the butter, as the meat made plenty of juices on its own. But it did make them taste good :)
On medium heat, place the patties in the pan and cover with a lid - this helps to keep all the moisture in the meat and not in your kitchen’s air. IMPORTANT: Don’t do that thing that all fast-food workers do and smash your burger down into the pan with your spatula. This releases all the delicious juices from the patties and makes them dry and dull. Resist the squish!
Cook the patties until they reach your desired done-ness. I let mine go a little too long, but like I said, they were rather thick and I didn’t want to risk under cooking them. Serve with your desired toppings and enjoy!
Optional: Before you remove the patties from the pan, but after you’ve turned off the heat, top with cheese (I used Cabot Seriously Sharp cheddar, naturally lactose free!) and replace the lid until it melts.
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Most Paleo burger recipes called for the patties to be placed on either large lettuce leaves or mushroom caps. As I didn’t have any lettuce and mushrooms are a culinary area I’ve not yet gotten the courage to venture into, I just ate mine with a knife and fork. Divine!
