Bison.

I know it's a regional thing, since most restaurants in Alabama don't carry Bison/Buffalo burgers. I had seen on my cooking shows the hosts trying Bison burgers and raving about them. Well last week while we were in South Dakota, I decided to "buck up" (pardon the pun) and try something new.... The burgers were fantastic. Not greasy like most hamburgers are, and had great flavor. So before we packed up to head south. My dad nicely filled our cooler full of a bunch of bison goodies. He gave us roasts, strip meat (for fajita style), ground buffalo (hamburgers), and Michael's favorite- Jerky.

So as a thank you to my wonderful in-laws who watched our dogs while we were gone, I am making Bison Stew (thanks to allrecipes.com). Think Beef stew with Bison instead of Beef. So far it's been cooking for 1 hour and it smells delicious. The only downside to the recipe, is I don't know how to convert Buffalo to points I've gotta look that up tonight. So for tonight, you are going to get the recipe, so if you choose to use beef then you can add up the points. But just from looking at the recipe, it can't be too many points for a serving.

*post dinner: This recipe was awesome. I had enough meat to be able to make a whole other batch, which will come in handy in about a month when it's good and cool outside. Perfect soup for a cool winter day. And I actually liked it without the potatoes, which you could add if you wanted.

Bison Stew (makes 6 servings)

• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 pounds bison meat, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 cup minced yellow onion
• 1/2 cup minced celery
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup water
• 3 tbsp ground black pepper
• 3 whole cloves
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon ground thyme
• 
  
• Heat 2 tablespoons canola oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat; brown the bison in oil, 2 to 3 minutes per side; remove bison and set aside. Pour 1 tablespoon canola oil into the Dutch oven; cook and stir the onion and celery in the oil until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic; cook and stir another 2 to 3 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and stir to coat. Stir in the broth, water, wine, salt, pepper, cloves, tomato sauce, parsley, and thyme to the mixture; bring to a boil. Return the bison to the mixture and stir through. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until meat is fork tender, about 1 hour.