Ground Bison, Elk or Beef?

ground bison ground elk recipe
Ground Bison Blueberry Potato Boats

I have been playing around with a few recipes that I could use interchangeably with different ground meats without making much adjustment. This one turned out stellar, if I do say so myself! Very different than my usual direction with a wild game recipe. It was a nice change, plus it was excellent with elk, bison and beef.

Blueberry Bison Boats: A stuffed fried potato, with rice, mushrooms, cheese, blueberry and of course bison

Ingredients:

1lbs of ground Bison, Elk or beef

1cup diced shitake or Bella mushrooms

1 package or 1 cup of Basmati rice cooked

1/2 stick of butter

1/4 teaspoon cyan pepper

1/4 cup dried blue berries

1/4 teaspoon dill weed

1/4 teaspoon smoked chipotle

6 large peeled and halved potatoes

2 cups of Monterey jack cheese

1tblspn of caldo de pollo powder or large chicken bouillon in 4 ounces of hot water

Directions: Start by scooping out the center “meat” of the potatoes with a teaspoon. Note the sharper the edge the easier this process is. This is not a super easy task and is quite messy when the potatoes are raw which they need to be to achieve the proper “French fry” texture and taste. Once you have turned them into little boats you will need to fry them medium to high heat with about 3/4 of and inch depth in a sauce pan. Taking care to flip them often and scoop up the oil with the potato boat often to ensure it cooks on the inside as well. Once you can reach a golden brown salt them and set them aside.

Next you want to sauté your diced mushrooms in about 2tb spoons of butter until cooked through and begin to caramelize salt to taste and add black pepper to your liking . Set them aside using the same pan add 3tblespns of butter and brown your ground bison or ground elk on high heat. About the time the moisture disappears toss in your cooked mushrooms, your rice, add in your spices and mix well. Add the cheese to the pan about 1 cup or half then quickly add your Caldo de pollo water mixture and mix in the cheese. Once the cheese is melted and the caldo mixture thickens turn off your heat and fold in your blue berries. begin to salt in layers to taste ( add salt fold then taste and repeat as needed)

Begin to build your boats by spooning in your bison meat mixture and pressing with the back of the spoon to really fill the potato up. But remember to flatten the top a bit to give a solid base for the cheese you will add on top. Place in a cookie sheet pan or similar and add the rest of the cheese on top of each Bison potato boat.

I used a toaster oven but you can use an oven on broil or even convection bake ( if you are baking i suggest preheating to 375deg) place the pan in the oven and cook until cheese melts and begins to brown slightly. Remove, garnish with a few more blueberries and serve