Bison Stew

Ingredients:

1 1/4 lb Bison stew meat (or trimmed bison chuck roast, cubed 1 inch)

8 oz whole mushrooms, quartered

6 oz celery root, peeled and cubed into 3/4 inch pieces

4 oz pearl onions, trimmed and peeled

3 ribs celery, sliced

3 oz carrots, sliced

2 garlic cloves, sliced

2 Tbsp tomato paste

2 Tbsp avocado oil, or ghee

5 cups homemade bone broth (or store-bought bone broth)

1 large bay leaf

1/2 tsp dried thyme

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Let stew meat sit out till it reaches room temp. This makes for more tender meat as searing cold meat puts it into shock and causes the meat to contract and tighten. While meat is reaching room temp quarter the mushrooms and set aside. Wash and chop vegetables, including the garlic, putting them together in a bowl for later. If using chuck roast trim excess fat off and cut the roast into 1-inch cubes. Thoroughly mix two teaspoons of oil, or ghee into the bison.

2. Place a heavy-bottomed pot on the stove over medium heat and add the rest of the oil, or ghee, and when it's hot swirl it to coat the bottom of the pot. Add the mushrooms and stir to coat. Do not disturb them for two minutes. Stir and let them cook for two minutes more. Remove the mushrooms from the pot and add them to the other vegetables.

3. Brown the bison in the pot in batches, adding more oil, or ghee as needed. Place all of the bison into the pot and stir in the bay leaf, thyme, and tomato paste making sure to coat the bison. Let it cook for less than a minute, then slowly add 1 cup of broth while scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Add the rest of the broth and bring the stew up to a simmer. Cover and reduce the heat to low and simmer gently for 1 1/2 hours.

4. Insert a fork into a piece of meat to check for tenderness, it should meet little to no resistance. If it's tough, let it cook another 20 minutes. When tender, add vegetables and turn up the heat until it reaches a simmer again and turn down the heat and let it simmer on low uncovered for 40 minutes to an hour, or until the vegetables are tender. Add salt and pepper to taste.