Bison Burgers

We had wine-loving friends over for dinner Saturday night and wanted to serve a main course that would do justice to some good red wine from our cellar.
Problem is, we don't eat red meat except very occasionally, and cooking it is not within my repertoire.
One exception, though, is bison (a.k.a. buffalo). It's farmed locally at a ranch called Vista Grand, whose products are sold at Eckerlin's at Findlay Market, among other area groceries. Eckerlin's sells fresh ground bison and other cuts of bison, such as steaks, frozen.

The meat has significantly lower fat content than beef. Our guests, most of whom had not tried bison burgers, said they could not tell the difference, taste wise.

With all the trimmings -- local lettuces, hot house tomatoes and sliced cheese -- it went beautifully with a red Bordeaux and a bottle of 2001 Burnet Ridge Purple Trillium.

Ground bison is perfect in soups, stews and sauces, too. My bison chili with a secret ingredient -- a bottle of very dark beer -- is one of the most popular recipes I've ever posted on this blog.

I'll post it again when the weather cools off and we're wanting chili again.

Meanwhile though, let's enjoy summer.