Buffalo: At one time, buffalo once roamed from Canada to Mexico, grazing the plains and mountainous areas and providing food, shelter, clothing and spiritual inspiration to the Plaines tribes.

At one time, the early explorers described herds of buffalo "As if the plains were black and appeared as if in motion". During the mid to late 1800's, the buffalo were hunted for the fur trade and select pieces of meat, which as we know, almost resulted in the extinction of these magnificent animals. Today however, there are over 300,000+ animals, being raised on private and public lands with the breeding herd growing between 20 - 30 percent each year. Sweeter than most of our traditional red meats, buffalo offers a beefy taste with half the calories and cholesterol and is destined to be one of the health - conscious red meats in the future. Buffalo is not marbled with fat, and therefore cooking time is much shorter. Buffalo should be cooked to a rare or medium rare state with a pinkish red center. If buffalo is cooked beyond this point, the meat will be dry and chewy.