Bison Filet with Roasted Fingerlings & Kale Salad

 

Serves: 2
Prep: 30 mins
Cook: 30 mins
T = Tablespoon
t = teaspoon 

2 BRD Bison Filets; thawed in the fridge for at least 24 hours, 48 to be safe.
Kosher Salt
2 T High Temp Cooking Oil; avocado, grapeseed, tallow, etc. 
Cracked Black Pepper

2 pounds fingerling potatoes; or other small potatoes (a whole red-net bag) 
1 T BRD Beef Tallow; or other high temp cooking oil, but tallow really does something special
1/2 t salt
1/2 t cracked black pepper
1/4 t sweet or Hungarian paprika
1/4 t garlic powder 

1 bunch kale
1 lemon; juiced and zested.
2 T good olive oil; by good I mean spend some money and buy it direct from a farmer; you'll taste a difference and it will last a while because you’re not going to cook with it.
1 small shallot; sliced very thin
1/2 cup raisins or other dried fruit
1/2 cup roasted almonds, pecans or walnuts; sliced, chopped or slivered.   

Paper Towels
Wire Rack; optional but useful
Pairing knife
Chef’s Knife
Cutting Board
Cast Iron Skillet; 10” or wider
Meat Thermometer; buy one, they are cheap and important.
Microplane for zesting; get one of these, they’re like $12 bucks, are multi-purpose and work wonderfully.
1 large bowl
1 plate
1 medium pot
1 spoon
1 fork
Rimmed baking sheet
Parchment paper
Tongs 

 

The steps are listed in order of operation so that you can get it all done in under an hour. Read the whole thing first so you know what's coming.

1. Remove steaks from fridge and hold on counter.
2. Preheat oven on low broil, 425℉ if you don't have that setting.
3. Wash your potatoes in cold water for a few seconds then place into the medium pot and cover by 2” with cold water. Place over medium-high heat and bring to a boil.
4. While the potatoes are coming to a boil, remove your steaks from the packaging and dry very well with paper towels. It will take a couple sheets per steak because of the high moisture content of bison. Place on the wire rack with plate under neath allowing the airflow to help dry the steaks further. Let sit on regular plate if you don’t have a wire rack and can’t rig up something else.
5. Place cast iron skillet over low heat and allow to preheat. Your potatoes should be simmering at this point, start paying attention to when it boils. Use your ears, you’ll be able to hear it start  boiling.
6. Wash kale under cold water and shake to dry. Strip kale greens from stalk with your hand. Hold at the bottom of the stem and pull through your hand and it’ll come right off. Don’t worry about the tip of the stalk being left on the greens, if it broke off in your hand, it will be tender enough to eat.
7. Chop kale into bite-sized strips (are you listening to your potatoes?), and pick them up with your hands and squeeze the hell out of them as you place them into the bowl. Wring them like a towel.
8. Once your potatoes come to a boil, set a timer for 8 mins. Have a spoon and fork ready to test them. They will be done when you scoop one out with a spoon and stick a fork in and it slides right off.
9. Zest half lemon and put half of it in the squeezed kale. Juice all the lemon and put all of it into the kale. Salt with a two-finger & thumb pinch then mix and squeeze again. Add pepper and drizzle with olive oil and stir.
10. While your salad is marinating, slice your shallot, chop your nuts and have your dried fruit ready. Set aside to be added later.
11. Once your done with step 9 or your timer has gone off, test a potato by the guidelines above. If done, strain out all the water and return potatoes to the pot and swirl them around. The residual heat from the pot will help dry them out. They will look dry after a minute or two.
12. Add your tallow or other high temp oil to the potatoes and swirl until it melts and coats the potatoes. Add seasoning and swirl and stir to coat. Pour out onto the parchment paper lined baking sheet and place in oven. Set timer for 5 mins.
13. Add high temp oil to your preheated cast iron and let it smoke begin to smoke. Pat your steaks dry one last time and salt generously. Place in the hot pan and press down on them some to ensure even contact.
14. Flip steaks every minute. This helps get a uniform cook and let’s them rest a little during cooking. Try to flip them onto an open part of the skillet. Keep flipping every minute until they read 120-125℉ for rare, 130℉ for medium-rare, 135℉ for medium. I wouldn’t go any further. Remove to a plate and crack pepper on top. Let rest, tented with foil or covered with a non-air tight cover (e.g. bowl). Let rest and put on the plate last. Don’t rush the rest. It will take way longer than you think for the steak to get cold, especially covered.
15. When the potato timer goes off, shake the baking sheet to move them around and continue to cook for another 3-5 mins or longer, until they have started to brown. Tap on a few and you'll be able to feel the crispiness. Pull from oven when they looks good enough to eat. 
16. Remove potatoes and let cool a bit while you finish the salad.
17. Add remaining salad stuffs and stir. Save a little of each thing to put on top of the each plated salad. It will look nice.   
18. Think of Mickey Mouse when you're plating.  Make the salad his left ear, the potatoes his right ear and the steak is his face. Nice and tight in the center.
19. Serve with your drink of choice and enjoy. Clean up in the morning.