I was so busy this week getting ready for Christmas, that I nearly forgot about my dark dinner before we headed out of town. Fortunately for me, I had a buffalo roast in the freezer! We are so lucky to live near Oleson’s buffalo farm. You can drive by whenever you want and see the herd grazing, and you can pick up the meat at the grocery store. Buffalo is delicious; like beef only slightly more game-y. It’s also very healthy and super lean.
I pulled the roast to thaw, seasoned it and seared it in a pan with some olive oil, salt and pepper. Once the meat was nicely browned on both sides, I deglazed the pan with Bell’s Special Double Cream Stout; it made a nice, dark, rich base for my broth. After that I added some water, a whole onion and a crushed head of garlic from Providence Farms. Next I chopped and added several carrots from a local farmer that I picked up at Oryana, five or six local redskin potatoes and a parsnip I had in storage. Once everything was in the pan, all I had to do was set the oven to 225 degrees and let it cook for a few hours.
Dark Days Buffalo Pot Roast
While the roast was cooking, I started a loaf of bread to rise and ran some last-minute errands. When I got home, I turned the oven up to 450, pulled the roast out and put it back on the stove on low heat while the loaf of bread that we ate with the roast baked. Even crazy days can be Dark Days!
Notes From a Country Girl Living in the City 