Roast Bison With Caramelized Onions

Minimal effort produces tasty meat.

Buy a big hunk of bison roast from your butcher. Beef will do in a pinch. Spray a pan with Canola oil, rub your roast with a mix of peppers and chili powder, and dump it in the oven at 450F for 10-15 minutes Turn it down to 250F for the rest of the run.

Use your meat thermometer to figure out when the meat is done. The Joy of Cooking defines Rare as 120-130F, Medium-Rare as 130-135F, Medium as 140-150F, Medium-Well as 155-165F, and Well-Done as 170-185.

Try not to poke many holes in your roast, as it will drain all of the tasty juices out.

When you're a few degrees shy of your target, pull the roast out of the oven and let it rest on a plate. The interior will continue to cook for a while, and the juices will redistribute. Leave it alone while you deal with the onions.

Chop several large onions into half-rings: top and tail the onions, peel the outside skins off, and halve them from pole to pole. Cut about 1/4" thick half-ring slices.

Dump slices into a heavy greased pan over medium-low heat. Add pepper and cook slowly, stirring, until the onions get soft and begin to brown.

As the onions start to brown and leave sticky bits on the bottom of the pan, dump in a generous slug of cheap whiskey. Stir to remove all of the tasty browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook until the alcohol has cooked off: you'll stop smelling the fumes over the pan, and the liquid will mostly have cooked off.

Find a very big, very sharp knife. Sharpen it if necessary. Serrated knives are for the weak.

Cut the thinnest slices of roast you can, and make a pile in your serving dish. The roast will be relatively cool on the outside at this point, so use your hands to stabilize as necessary to achieve the thinnest slices possible.

Haul the onions back out of the oven, and dump them over the slices of roast.

Serve this dish immediately. The onions will reheat the meat, but can overcook a rare roast if allowed to sit too long.

Part of this nutritious dinner.