2lbsbison chuckin one piece, trimmed of fat and silverskin (beef, or venison chuck can be substituted)
3cupswild grape juice or dry red wine
1large carrotdiced 1 in
2stalks of celerydiced 1 in
1small oniondiced 1 in
2cupsstrong strong meat stockpreferably homemade, to ensure a silky sauce
2tablespoonsunsalted butter
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
¼cupflavorless oil for browning
wild rice flouroptional, all purpose flour or another flour can be substituted
Bouquet Garni:
Fresh thyme
2clovesof garlic
1dried bay leaf
10black peppercorns
Instructions
Marinading and Cooking
Cut the bison pieces into 4 equal portions, trying to keep them in equal sizes squares to make sure they hold their shape while cooking. Put the meat in a dish and cover with the grape juice or wine.
The next day, remove the bison from the wine, dry the bison on paper towels thoroughly to ensure they don't spatter when you sear them. Season the meat with salt and pepper.
Heat the oil in a wide braising pan or Dutch oven, then dredge the bison in the wild rice flour or all purpose flour and brown each piece well. Add the vegetables, reserved grape juice, bouquet garni, and meat stock to the pan, then cover and bake at 350 for about 1.5 hours or until the bison is fork tender.
Allow the bison to cool in it's liquid, then remove each piece, discard the vegetables and reserve both bison and jus separately. From here you can make this ahead of time, and I recommend it. Strain the jus and reserve it and the pieces of bison separately.
Finishing the Braising Jus, Glazing and Plating
Reduce the sauce until about 1 cup remains in the pan, then add the butter and melt. Keeping the pan at a simmer, emulsify the butter into the sauce, basting the bison pieces as they warm up and the sauce thickens, eventually they should be glazed and shiny with the pan sauce.
On the middle of 4 pre-warmed dinner plates, lay down a dollop of squash puree and wilted greens, arrange a piece of bison on the side, drizzle each with some of the sauce and serve immediately.
Notes
If you're wondering if this tastes like grape juice, it doesn't. Cooking mellows the fruit flavor, it ends up tasting like you used a young red wine with a bit of natural acid to it, basically just a good meat and potatoes style entree.Part of why I chose this for the dinner besides cooking meat to temperature was because I can make it ahead, it actually tastes better that way. Put a little work in before hand, then all you have to do is reheat the pieces in the jus, glaze them up with butter, and viola.