Anyone who’s followed my blog knows that I’ve tried a lot of different types of meat. Some were kind of scary (brains, tripe, etc.) while others were a little less intimidating. Today’s post definitely falls in the second category. Well, at least for me, anyway.
While doing some recent shopping, the GF found this package of ground buffalo on sale. It sounded interesting to me, since I’d always wondered how it compared to beef. Rather than take the obvious route and make burgers out of it, we decided to make meatloaf (buffaloaf?). I love meatloaf, but was only familiar with the ground beef version, so I hoped this was just as good.
After finding a simple recipe online, we prepared the mixture, then threw it in the oven to roast along with some Yukon Gold potatoes. When it was done, I was surprised at how little grease/oil it produced. As a kid, I remember being grossed out at the viscous pool of grease floating in the bottom of the pan whenever my mom made it with ground beef, but this didn’t have that at all.
Given the absence of grease, I was worried that it was going to be too dry, but fortunately, it was tender and moist. The flavor wasn’t much different from ground beef – maybe a bit milder, and definitely less oily, but good. The other ingredients (tomato sauce, garlic, egg, spices, etc.) definitely added some much-needed zing, and overall, it was a success. I’d recommend using ground buffalo in place of ground beef if you want to cut back on some fat and calories, but make sure to season it well.
