We are lucky to live in an area of the world where we have access to bison. Not a common meat, it is similar to beef, but more lean and subtle in flavour. A delicious alternative if you’re looking to mix it up. We used a bison roast from Cross Bar Ranch, a local ranch here in Alberta, but any bison roast will do.

There are really two ways to do roasts. The first is on a rack, like in our Classic Beef Roast recipe. Very simple, just season and pop it onto the rack and into the oven it goes. The second is shown here – in a dutch oven. We wanted to mix this recipe up so you could see the other way of doing roasts. But if the first sounds more up your alley, just head over the Classic Beef Roast recipe and it will work perfectly well for bison too.

INGREDIENTS

1 x 3 lbs bison roast
1.5 tbs smooth dijon mustard
2 tbs salt (try some smoked salt to add a little extra flavour)
1 tbs canola oil
1 cup water or stock

Special equipment: dutch oven

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat your oven to 325F. Rub the roast all over in the dijon mustard then sprinkle evenly with the salt.

Place the dutch oven on the stove with the oil over medium heat. Once the oil is hot and glistening, add the roast to sear. Sear about 3 mins per side or until it is lightly browned on each side. Insert an in-oven meat thermometer into the middle of the roast – note this isn’t mandatory, but helps you watch the temperature of the roast to help determine cooking time (and prevent you over cooking it!). I highly recommend. The one I have is the ChefAlarm Cooking Alarm Thermometer (it beeps when it hits your desired temperature), but any one like that will work (disclaimer: no, I am not sponsored by them, I just really like my thermometer and can’t live without it).

Place about 1 cup of water or stock in the bottom of the pan to prevent any juices from burning onto the pan (makes clean up easier).

Continue baking for about 1 hour or until it reaches an internal temperature of 125F for medium-rare. I rotate the pan (spin it around to face the other way) at the half hour mark to also ensure even cooking (in case one side of the oven is hotter than the other).

Remove from the oven and set aside for 10-15 mins to rest. This will help the juices stay in the meat and raise the internal temperature by about 5 degrees to a full medium-rare.

Slice thinly and serve with your favourite sides.

Serves 4-6

Tip: Want to make an au jus to go with it? Just simmer and reduce veal stock (milder flavour than beef) over medium heat until it starts to thicken and you have a great demi-glace! I do this from frozen, but pre-thawed stock would work just as well. (From frozen – just drop giant stock ice cube into pan and watch melt and simmer into a tasty sauce – takes about 40 mins).