As part of our trip around the world with our bison recipes, we've decided to take on the British Baked Potato! If you aren't familiar with our little journey, we've picked over 30 recipes from around the world to add bison into instead of a traditional meat option. We wanted to load up this potato with all the British basics to create a beautiful twice-baked potato that will tickle the tastebuds and fill your stomach without having to have a huge side. We ate 2 potatoes per person, so this recipe will reflect that, and you can always increase the portions as needed.
*special note - We made this recipe with ground bison, and we'll also be providing a sirloin steak option as well.
Ingredients:
1lb ground bison (or 1lb top sirloin which we'll also tell you how to prepare!)
8 ounces baby bella or shiitake mushrooms, sliced
4 large russet potatoes
2 tablespoons oil (for the potatoes)
1/2 teaspoon salt (for the potatoes)
1/4 teaspoon pepper (for the potatoes)
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 tablespoon flour
14 oz beef broth
1 tablespoon butter
Directions for the Potato:
We recommend doing this slightly before, or in conjunction with the meat and mushroom mixture to ensure both are done at the same time, and we wanted to add this in first to show the full steps.
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.
Wash the potatoes, poke them with a fork about 10 times and bake them in a pan for 30 minutes. Keep track of the side that's down so we can cook the other side later!
Take out the potatoes and rub them completely in oil, salt, and pepper using a brush (the potatoes will be hot, so be careful!
Put the potatoes back in the oven after fully coating them, and start baking them on the opposite side for another 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, squeeze the potato to check for doneness using an oven mitt. If the insides are soft, remove the potato from the oven. If not completed, continue cooking for 5-minute increments until soft.
Cut open the potato and fluff with a fork, then add the meat and mushrooms on top!
Directions for the meat and mushrooms:
Add the vinegar to a small saucepan and bring to a boil. (We suggest starting your potato before this or now!)
Once boiled, reduce the heat; simmer ~8 minutes. When this is completed, it will be around 2 tablespoons of syrupy texture.
Remove from the heat and cool. It will be sticky!
While the vinegar is cooling, let's prepare the bison! If using ground bison, add it to the pan and cook until completely done. If using sirloin, cut bison into thin strips. Heat the pan on medium and add the bison in until it's cooked to your desired temperature.
Remove the meat from the skillet when done and keep warm.
Add mushrooms; cook ~5 minutes until the mushrooms have released their water and are slightly browned, then consolidate with the bison.
Add the garlic to the now-empty pan and stir for 1 minute.
Add the wine to the pan and cook for about 3-5 minutes or until the liquid has evaporated.
Mix the flour in broth.
Add broth and balsamic reduction to skillet, then bring the liquid to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer 15 - 20 minutes or until mixture is reduced by half.
Remove from the heat; stir in butter until melted.
Add in the meat and mushrooms into the mixture and stir until completely covered
Serve on top of your baked potatoes.
ENJOY!