Buffalo Dreams

Behold, this dreamer cometh. Genesis 37:19

Driving his golf cart into a herd of buffalo, Gary Lenz popped the top on a can of Miller’s Lite, and spoke of dreams.
“When I was little kid, my father farmed near here. We drove by this place one day and I told him that this was my dream farm. He laughed at me, ‘That land isn’t any good for anything, it’s too hilly to clear or to plant,” he told me.
Lenz decided to try to buy the land soon after his father died.
“I wanted it for the lay of the land. I love hills and valleys and springs. I hate flat land. I don’t want to grow crops; I buy crops and hay. I wanted pastures. So I found the owner in Costa Rica, and he said ‘OK,’ just like that. So suddenly, I owned my dream property, but it took me awhile to figure out what to do with it,” Lenz said, recalling another dream.
“To me, buffalo and elk represent the ultimate American romance. This place was all rose bushes then, so I had to clear them out to make pastures and I had to fence them. At first, I bought Texas longhorn and elk. I bought my first buffalo because I thought they’d be neat to have,” he said, adding that when he and future business partner Dan Palmer heard that 100 animals separated “a hobby” from “a business,” they bought enough to be businessmen.
That’s how the Iowa Bison Company was born. Lenz ranges buffalo on several ranches, including one that turns heads along US Highway 52. His Buffalo Ridge ranch rolls over steep hills, between St. Donatus and Dubuque. Just down the bluff from Our Lady of the Mississippi Abbey, it is a surreal dream. On a summer weekend, between 100-150 cars will cruise by with cameras and “I told you so’s” protruding from windows.
Lenz indulges the curiosity of others, inviting school groups to visit and giving each student a T shirt and buffalo lunch. Despite the majesty of bathing elk and stampeding bison, the main attraction is Bogie, Lenz’s five year old, full ton “baby.”
A buffalo mother will disown one calf when she has twins. Dan Palmer, who ranches 582 idyllic acres near Maquoketa, told us that he once bought a goat nanny for such a buffalo.
“That goat led him around and they became inseparable friends. The goat would curl up and sleep on top of him until he got too big. One time a school group saw that curled up goat and asked what it was, so I told them it was my white buffalo. I wish,” Palmer mused, considering that a rare white buffalo can fetch a million dollars at auction.
Bogie was a similar orphan, having been bottle fed to maturity by Lenz and his family. He’s also a Kobe-style buffalo, with a taste for an occasional beer. He can hear a pop top pop from half a mile away and runs to a gate where he can lap it up with his tongue. Now a couple years past slaughtering age, he’s more family than livestock. He used to have the run of the entire ranch until he ate the flowers.
“He’s a big baby, but he’s a mighty strong baby, so don’t mess with him,” Gary reminded us, adding that Bogie’s also a gourmet.
“One school group wanted to feed Bogie apples. Now Bogie loves apples, but he’s strictly organic, from trees in the woods. The kids had supermarket apples, so Bogie spit them out in disgust,” he laughed.
Maneuvering his golf cart between pastures, Lenz explained other gourmet instincts of buffalo. “They only go for short sweet grass, which is where the high protein is. So we have to cut it short and put up a lot of hay after it rains. They eat grain and hay all winter so they can’t wait for the Spring pastures,” he said.
The ranch is divided into 10 acre pastures in which a herd grazes for 2-3 weeks, before it’s rotated. Buffalo are segregated by age, six months apart. Each time Lenz passed between pastures, he reminded us that gates have dire consequences if left open.
“Buffalo won’t go where you want them to go unless they want to go there too. Yet, I have never had a buffalo mess with me, unless someone left a gate open. Once a buffalo leaves the herd, he’s scared to death. You can’t get him back without shooting him. and they can jump like deer. One cleared two fences while we were chasing him. We had to chase him for two hours after someone left a gate open,” he recalled, throwing buckets of culled oats and grouts over the field.
A herd sauntered over and a pecking order was established. Young orange colored calves were last, then older brown calves, the meeker moms, the ornerier cows, and the bulls. Gary keeps ten cows to each bull and though the meat industry recommends the Woods Bison, he is partial to the more romantic looking Plains Bison.
As the herd surrounded us, Roger Miller’s famous admonition seemed wrong. You could roller skate in a buffalo herd.
“You’re safe as long as you don’t cut between a calf and her mother, or between a bull and his cow. They aren’t mean at all if you keep them fed, but you can never domesticate them. They are majestic and wild and yet, amazingly, they put up with you.
“This is why I do this. Look, we’re surrounded by a breed that was 60 million strong (in the 19th century) and a few years ago it had been reduced to less than 1000. This is the biggest rush of all. To think they will be my friends as long as I take care of them,” he said while counting cows.
“If I don’t see a cow for two or three days, I know I’m about to have a baby. That is the only time they ever leave the herd. Cows are incredible, in a drought they will hold a calf that is ready to be born, until there is enough water or grass. I leave them to their own designs, and I get 90% calving rates that way. I tried the industry controlled way once and that got reduced to 70%,” he laughed.
The count revealed a surprise. There were 32 heifers where there should have been 20; someone had left a gate open again, but with minimal consequences. “I hate fences, but they are necessary. I want this to be as natural as possible. We never castrate a bull. That wouldn’t be right. They do that in the industry, but I feel it’s wrong. I want the buffalo to be proud because they are proud creatures. I never cut their horns either, most guys do, so they won’t scar each other, but that isn’t natural. I got into this for the romance, not the bottom line,” he concluded.
When Lenz and Palmer took up buffalo in the 1990’s, it was an expensive hobby. Then the fickle winds of nutritional science created a market for buffalo meat, which is nutrient dense, low in carbohydrates and bad cholesterol, and high in antioxidants, iron and essential fatty acids. That market grew so fast that Iowa Bison can no longer supply their demand and need to buy buffalo from other ranchers.
“It never occurred to me back then that people would ever want to eat bison. Now, there’s money in the product. We sell every part of the buffalo, the hide, the head, intestines, the testicles. Zip’s Tap in Andrew has a Buffalo Testicle Feast each year. We make leather jackets from the summer hides and winter hides go the taxidermists. I fertilize my corn with buffalo manure and that corn grows twice as tall as the corn that gets chemical fertilizers.
“When I first bought buffalo, people looked at me as if I was dumb as a rock. After a few years, the same people were asking what it takes to raise them,” he said, breathing in the pleasures of a last laugh.

Eating Bison Beyond nutritional motivations, bison sales have soared because of its distinctive flavor, if cooked correctly. Jerky and sausage products, of which Iowa Bison has several, are no-brainers for cooks. Raw meat is trickier. The low fat means it should be eaten rare or medium rare. Slow, low temperature cooking is a general rule that yields spectacular results.
At Iowa Buffalo Company in Mediapolis, Craig Murguia says that buffalo meat loaf, ribeye and burgers turned his restaurant into a dinner destination for drivers within a 70 mile radius. He sells all Iowa Bison products in his grocery store too.
Kim Wolff, owner/chef of Dubuque’s Pepper Sprout restaurant, sells 70 pounds worth of 6 ounce buffalo filets in a good week. In a charming 19th century building, Pepper Sprout is an heirloom showcase for this indigenous Iowa meat. Wolff changes her preparation seasonally, using fresh ingredients from a family of local suppliers. She gets wild mushrooms from a Bellevue ‘shroomer, domestic shiitakes and oyster mushrooms from a Dubuque grower. A sister-in-law grows her squash, while an aunt brings her edible flowers, fresh herbs and mixed greens. Onions and snow peas come from her octogenarian grandfather. She also uses 3 organic growers from the Dubuque Farmers Market.
Iowa Bison products are also sold retail at Hy-Vee stores and Haun’s in Dubuque. Restaurants serving Iowa Bison include Kalmes’ in St. Donatus; the Crow Valley Golf Club, Thunder Bay Grills and The Filling Station in Davenport; Circle C in Lamotte; plus Kalmes’ Breaktime and The Yard Arm in Dubuque.

Other Iowa Buffalo Ranches
Iowa Bison Association reports 43 members in 33 counties that market buffalo meat. Two of them present unique experiences.

~Dreesman’s offers trail rides and hunting experiences besides their line of meat. It is sold at The Metro Market in Des Moines, Julie’s in Grinnell, Crossroads in Toledo, Farmer Nick's at I-80 & Hwy 21, Silver Dollar in Chelsea, New Pioneer Coop in Coralville; and directly from the ranch at 3575 L Ave, Tama, IA 52339, 641-484-6725 dreesman@iowatelecom.net.

~Hawkeye Buffalo Ranch, on a 150 year old family spread in northeast Iowa, offers hunting experiences in addition to their products. Contact: Dan McFarland 3034 Pembroke Ave., Fredericksburg, Iowa 50630 563-237-5318

Testimonials
~At their first White House black tie dinner, President Bush & Mrs. Bush served buffalo to Mexican President Vincente Fox & Mrs. Fox.
~Bison hot dogs are served at the Atlanta Braves’ & Milwaukee Brewers’ baseball parks.
~When professional golfer, Chi Chi Rodriguez came to Des Moines on the senior tour he brought buffalo meat with him as part of his post heart attack diet.
~The USS John F. Kennedy serves 500 to 600 pounds of buffalo meat a day.
~Reader’s Digest cited bison meat as one of the "Top 5 Foods Women Need Most," citing its high iron and low fat numbers.
~Muscle & Fitness magazine touted bison meat for “as much B6 and iron as beef, but has a richer flavor and half the fat!"
~Weight Watchers Magazine added bison meat to their "winning point program."
~Farm Bureau’s Farm News wrote "Buffalo meat contains shorter fibers making the meat more tender. Protein analysis of the buffalo meat shows that it has an excellent distribution of amino acids, giving it more complete protein that other red meats."

Buffalo or Bison?
The North American buffalo is not a true buffalo. Its closest relative is the European bison or wisent and the Canadian woods bison, not the Cape buffalo or water buffalo of Africa and Asia. The scientific name for the American buffalo is bison. It belongs to the bovidae family of mammals, as do domestic cattle. American history has used the word buffalo so long that it has romantic connotations that help marketing, although "bison" is the correct name. The words are interchangeable, whether speaking of the animal or the meat it provides.

This story originally appeared in The Iowan

Beyond Gazpacho

Chilled Garden Soups for Summer


Soup. n. (Fr) A liquid food made by cooking meat, vegetables, fish, etc. in milk or water.


Name a cold soup. Most people who can answer at all, say gazpacho. Yet by Webster’s definition, it isn’t really a soup. It’s not cooked and it adds no milk or water. Gazpacho is more like salsa, it’s liquidity usually comes from its own raw juices.


Hot soups were created as a means of preservation, long before refrigeration, and the classic European repertoire of cold soups was built around cooked soups that were chilled by adding cold cream, milk, or ice. Milk and cream work better in cold soups than hot, because cream’s dense complexes of casein and whey proteins coagulate and burn when heated, forming a skin on top of the soup. Remove that hard layer, and you lose many nutrients. Classic cold soups, like vichyssoise, add cold milk or cream just before serving, never while cooking.


Vichyssoise has an authentically ritzy reputation. In 1910, when the Ritz Carlton in New York City opened its first roof garden, chef Louis Diat celebrated by introducing a new soup to Knickerbocker society. He duplicated a dish his mother made, a traditional peasant soup of France, refined it and named it after the French spa. It was served for the first time to the steel magnet Charles Schwab.


While the French have taught the world much about cold soups, from crème de carrotes glacee (iced carrot soup) to consommé madrilène (tomato consommé), many of the best cold “soups” today are made for the moment, like gazpacho, without any cooking. Because they are raw, they are not overwhelmed by fresh herbs, which often overpower a hot soup. Made of the freshest herbs and vegetables in the garden, fresh, raw soups are far more perishable. Like salsas, they’re best served the same day, for many fresh things begin deteriorating the moment they are cut.



If you want a raw cold soups to stand up for a few days in the refrigerator, natural preservatives like vinegar, lemon juice, wine or olive oil can help. It also freshens up a day old raw soup to squeeze a little lemon or lime in it before serving.


We visited three Iowa chefs who enjoy cooling off in the hot weather with chilled spoonfuls of the garden. Two of their favorite recipes for cold soups are cooked, and one is raw. Fortunately, all were willing to share the secrets with us.


Champagne-Melon Martini’s


Owner chef Kim Wolff’s Pepper Sprout restaurant in old downtown Dubuque, was named after the sassy Johnny Cash and June Carter song “Jackson.”


“My friend and I used to sing that song while working in Chicago and we swore we going to own a restaurant someday. It’s got an attitude I like. The friend is gone, but I do have the restaurant now,” she laughed.


Wolff has the right attitude too and Dubuque has responded well to her Midwest cuisine with classic touches. She prepares all her stocks and sauces from scratch and buys local produce whenever possible. Area growers bring their garden harvest to her kitchen door. She gets mixed greens, onions and snow peas from her octogenarian grandfather. A mushroomer from Bellevue brings her morels. Another grows shiitakes and oyster mushrooms for her.


Her soups, for which she is locally famous, are personal family heirlooms. A sister in law grows her squash, an aunt grows her edible flowers and herbs. The local farmers’ market has 3 organic growers. The Fincel’s sweet corn she uses has a reputation that extends far beyond the county line.


Kim wastes nothing, “We utilize the whole food, the trimmings from the peeled vegetables tonight go into the stock tomorrow morning. She rotates several cold soups on her summer menu, including strawberry tarragon, gazpacho with chick peas and leek. But her personal favorite is a champagne and cantaloupe soup with fresh spearmint.


“It’s simple and an almost perfect blend of flavors and one of the best uses ever of spearmint,” she said, with attitude.


Kim Wolff’s Champaign Melon Soup

serves 8-12


3 fresh melons
1 shallot, or green onion
2 bottles Asti Spumante
½ cup chopped spearmint, plus as many sprigs as servings
¼ pint fresh blueberries
Salt and pepper to taste
Sugar or honey are optional


Cut the melon from the rind and puree, in a blender of food processor. Chop the shallots or green onions and add to the puree. Pour the champagne over the puree and let settle about two hours. Add spearmint and blueberries.


Serve in martini glasses with fresh sprigs of spearmint.


Cold Green Metal


Goldsmith Susan Noland has been making one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry art for decades in Des Moines’ Shops at Roosevelt. For years she was the only art outlet in the area. Lately, the shopping center transformed with arty cafes and three new art galleries, including one that is home to several of Noland’s former students from Drake.


The venerable Noland is still the trendsetter and the mistress of metal. In her bamboo and jade bejeweled studio-gallery, we discovered she has a thing or two to teach the trendy café set too. “Gardening and cooking appeal to me the same way that metalwork does. I like to watch things grow, from just the seeds. A certain patience evolves in both activities,” she explained.


Partner Leslie Becker observed that “Gardening, cooking and metalwork are all elemental. Earth, wind, fire and air must be applied to the process and controlled in both cases. Susan‘s work is organic, the flow of metalwork is like the wind, it represents movement through a piece,” she said.


“That is what drew me to flatware and utensils,” Noland said of designs that have landed her works in major national shows, at the Museum of Contemporary Crafts in New York City and at the National Ornamental Metal Museum in Memphis.


As if the flavor of her lettuce, pea and tarragon soup were not enough to dazzle us, she presented it with her “Tea Party” set of heart shaped spoons, remindful of Lewis Carroll’s Wonderland. Noland also used an abalone bowled sugar dusting spoon and a caviar spoon in which the bowl is an oyster shell with pearls forming.


“I believe in one-of-a-kind creations, this soup can be frozen and served later, but it can’t be recreated, because the ingredients are only just right for a brief season.”


Susan Noland’s Lettuce Pea Soup

Serves 6-10


1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ cup chopped celery
2 heads shredded Boston bibb or Romaine lettuce
2 large peeled and thinly sliced potatoes
5 cups canned chicken broth
4 cups fresh peas
1 teaspoon chervil
½ cup rice milk
Salt and pepper
Garnish:
Sour cream
Fresh peas


Melt butter and add olive oil, celery and lettuce. Simmer 5 minutes. Add broth and bring to boil.


Add potatoes, peas and chervil and cook on a low boil for 20 minutes. Cool slightly. Puree in blender of food processor.


Return to pot, season with salt and pepper to taste. Chill and serve with garnish.


A Garden Workshop


Deborah Wagman is a food industry lifer, having owned restaurants, managed them, consulted for them, photographed them and written about them. In 2002, she opened her first cooking school, in Des Moines’ East Village and became a food editor at Meredith a few years later.



wagman supports locally grown and raised products, including Niman Ranch pork from Thornton and Cleverley Farms organic vegetables from Mingo. An avid gardener, Wagman recommends using Nebraska Wedding heirloom tomatoes in this recipe.



Deborah Wagman’s Corn and Tomato Soup with Fresh Basil

Serves 4-6


2 tablespoons good quality olive oil
2 medium leeks, white part only, finely chopped
6 ripe large tomatoes, seeded and coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 cups corn kernels cut from 3-4 ears of fresh corn
(Reserve cobs and cut them in half lengthwise)
10 leaves fresh basil
1 tablespoon tomato paste
3 ½ cups chicken stock, preferable homemade
sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste


Garnishes:


¼ cup sour cream
garlic croutons
extra leaves of basil


In a large non-reactive pan, sauté leeks in olive oil until softened, for about 5-6 minutes. Add chopped tomatoes and cook until slightly softened, about 3-4 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over all and cook, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes longer.


Add the corn kernels, the corn cobs, basil leaves, tomato paste and chicken broth. Bring to a simmer, then partially cover pan and allow it to simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and remove the corn cobs.


In a blender or food processor, puree the soup in small batches until smooth. Pour the pureed soup through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl. Season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Cool to room temperature first, then cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.


Ladle the soup into chilled bowls and top with croutons, a spoonful of sour cream and a sprig of fresh basil.