Fun With Buffalo Leather: Suede Elbow Patches

I couldn't stand to throw out this SUPER soft, albeit slightly felted, cashmere sweater with a hole in the elbow. So I'm covering up the elbow hole with buffalo suede patches!


















Step 1: Print out the pattern here (thanks Martha).

Step 2: Find some buffalo leather scraps (luckily my Dad has a bunch).


















If you don't have buffalo leather, cow leather works just as well.

Step 3: Cut out pattern and lightly trace onto smooth side of buffalo leather.


















Step 4: Cut out leather patch.


















Step 5: Put on sweater and determine proper placement of elbow patch.


















Mark placement with straight pins in a rectangle around patch (delineating top, bottom and sides).

Take off sweater and fold in half with one arm on top of the other to make sure placement of patches is symmetrical. Adjust if necessary.

Step 6: BEFORE YOU GO ANY FURTHER (especially if you've never sewed with a machine before like me), cut out a small oval scrap of leather and practice sewing leather patch to fabric.


















I used denim. Try to keep even stitch about 1/4 inch away from edge.

Step 7: Apply tacky glue to smooth side of leather patch. Stick leather patch (suede side facing out) to elbow of sweater inside rectangle you marked with pins.


















Step 8: Stitch leather patch to sweater with sewing machine. I asked my dad to do it for me because as you can see from my practice runs above, my sewing machine skills still leave a lot to be desired.

Voila. Cashmere sweater with buffalo suede elbow patches.

Last day of February

Cleaning out the fridge with Stroganoff

Q: What to do with a ziploc bag of bison sirloin tips that have been hanging out in the fridge for at least a week and a bunch of mushrooms?

A: Stroganoff.

Ingredients
1 pound assorted fresh mushrooms (I used a bunch of leftover supermarket variety white mushrooms, a portobello cap and some shiitakes), thinly sliced
2 tablespoons butter
5 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup dry white vermouth
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 1/2-pound sirloin or sirloin tips, excess fat trimmed, cut against grain into 1/4-inch-thick slices, slices cut crosswise into 3-inch lengths
4 thinly sliced shallots
1 tablespoon flour
1 whole canned tomato or 1/4 cup diced canned tomatoes
1 cup beef broth
1/2 teaspoon Hungarian sweet paprika
Salt and pepper

3 cups beef broth
1 cup Minnesota wild rice

Boil 3 cups beef broth, add wild rice, cover and reduce heat to simmer. Simmer for 50-60 minutes or until rice has split and liquid is absorbed. Add salt to taste and fluff with fork.

While rice is cooking, melt 1 tablespoon butter with 1 tablespoon olive oil in large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add sliced wild mushrooms to skillet; sprinkle with salt and pepper and sauté until mushrooms release juices, about 6 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high; sauté until mushrooms are tender and brown, about 4 minutes longer.

Add vermouth to mushrooms and boil until almost evaporated but still moist, scraping up browned bits, about 1 minute. Stir in cream; remove from heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Thoroughly scrape out skillet and melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter with 1 tablespoon olive oil on medium-high heat. Working in batches, add beef slices to skillet and sauté just until brown outside but still pink in center, about 30 seconds per side. Transfer beef slices to plate; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add sliced shallots to same skillet, reduce heat to medium, and sauté until golden brown and tender, about 4 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and flour. Add broth and paprika and whisk to blend, scraping up browned bits. Simmer until sauce thickens slightly, about 2 minutes. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from heat; cover and keep warm.

Add beef slices and juices to sauce in skillet; bring to simmer, stirring occasionally. Add mushroom mixture. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve over wild rice.

Q: Stroganoff + Buffalo= Stroganoffalo?

Sunny Monday

I'm midway through a two-week trip home. North Dakota is home, mine and this guy's (left), though for now I'm just a visitor. It's been bitterly cold the past week, barely getting above 0 (degrees F) most days. But today it warmed up a bit, to the 20s and it's sunny outside, so bright with the snow I had to wear sunglasses. I piled on some sweaters and insulated overalls, a Carhart coat, mittens and packs and my dad and I blasted over to the barn on the snowmobile with the dog hot on our trail. The two-year-olds didn't hang around for long after we arrived. They sniffed the air and half ran down the hill despite my attempt to hide behind my dad as we approached the corrals. The other half soon followed, wary of my unfamiliar scent. The furry bunch seemed bigger than I remembered last year's being, with sharp black fully curved horns and thick brown coats. The youngsters, warm in the hay stuffed barn were more curious. They cautiously made way for my dad as he followed the south wall of the barn to check the water tank, softly and reassuringly emitting buffalo grunts. Shortly they settled down and turned their curiosity to me and my clicking camera poked through the steel tube barn gates. Photogenic little fellas.

Portobello Bison Burgers with Celery Apple Slaw

(adapted from the Gourmet Today cookbook)

Burgers:
2 normal-sized shallots or in my case, 6 really small shallots, chopped
1 large portobello mushroom cap and half of stem, trimmed and quartered
2 TBSP + 2 tsp olive oil
1 pound ground bison

Celery Apple Slaw:
2 celery ribs
1/2 cored unpeeled apple
1 TBSP mayo
1 1/2 tsp cider vinegar
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp whole-grain mustard

Accompaniment: 4 English muffins, split and toasted
Equipment: 12-inch heavy skillet

Cook vegetables for burgers:
Finely chop shallots and mushrooms (you can use a food processor or do it by hand). Heat 2 tablespoons oil in skillet over medium heat until it shimmers. Add mushroom mixture, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables begin to brown and liquid has evaporated, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and cool to warm, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, make slaw:
Cut celery and apple into 2-inch-long thin julienne (either with an adjustable-blade slicer fitted with 1/8-inch julienne blade or by hand with a knife).

Whisk together mayo, vinegar, oil, mustard, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper in a medium bowl. Add celery and apple, tossing to coat.

Cook burgers:
Mix ground bison into cooled mushroom mixture with hands until well combined. Form into 4 (4-inch) patties.

Heat remaining 2 teaspoons oil in skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Cook burgers approximately 4 minutes on each side for medium-rare.

Top burgers with slaw and serve on English muffins.

Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo

(Or a Herd of Confused Bison from Upstate New York)

"Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo." is a grammatically valid sentence in the English language, used as an example of how homonyms and homophones can be used to create complicated linguistic constructs.

Click here to read more on Wikipedia.

Bison Tenderloin with Bordelaise Sauce

Make Bordelaise Sauce:

2 cups red Bordeaux wine (or other dry red wine)
1/3 cup finely chopped shallots
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
1 finely chopped carrot
2 fresh thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
10 black peppercorns
2 cups bison, beef or veal stock
4 teaspoons arrowroot
1 tablespoon dry Madeira or Marsala wine
1/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Combine wine, shallots, mushrooms, carrot, thyme, bay leaf and peppercorns in a 3-quart saucepan, bring to a boil and reduce to 1/2 cup. Add stock and return to boil. Pour sauce through fine-mesh sieve into clean saucepan, pressing on solids. Return sauce to heat and bring to a boil. Stir arrowroot into Madeira in a small cup until smooth and whisk into sauce. Simmer, whisking occasionally, until slightly thickened. Stir in salt and pepper. Remove from heat.

Roast Tenderloin:

1 (3-pound) trimmed bison tenderloin roast
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter

Preheat oven to 350F. Pat tenderloin dry and season with salt. Heat oil and butter in large iron skillet or roasting pan over moderately high heat until foam subsides. Brown tenderloin on all sides (no more than 10 minutes) and season with ground pepper. Transfer skillet to oven (middle rack) and roast until internal temperature registers 120F (25-30 minutes). Transfer tenderloin to a cutting board, tent with aluminum foil and let stand for 15 minutes.

Slice tenderloin (1/2 inch slices), spoon bordelaise sauce atop tenderloin slices and serve with peas and onions, roasted or mashed potatoes and leafy greens.