Coffee and Mushroom Bison Stew
Dried porcini, instant coffee, and jerky-tough bison simmered dark in one pot.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 95
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 50 min
- total time
- 60 min
- water
- 900 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Winter / snow
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Bison or beef chuck | 1.5 lb | cut into quarter-sized pieces at home, frozen and packed in the cooler |
|---|---|---|
| Dried porcini | 1 oz | about 1.5 cups loose |
| Instant coffee | 2 tbsp | stands in for 2 cups brewed |
| Bouillon or stock concentrate | 3 tsp | chicken |
| Dried shallot or onion | 1/3 cup | |
| All-purpose flour | 3 tbsp | for dredging and thickening |
| Cocoa powder | 1 tsp | unsweetened |
| Dried thyme | 1 tsp | |
| Bay leaf | 1 | |
| Garlic powder | 1 tsp | |
| Salt and cracked black pepper | to taste | |
| Cooking oil | 3 tbsp | |
| Prepared horseradish | 2 tbsp | optional, in a small jar |
Method
- Pour 2 cups of boiled water over the porcini in a mug or bag. Let them sit 20 minutes while you do everything else. Do not throw out the soaking liquid.
- Salt and pepper the meat, then toss it with the flour in a bag so every piece is dusted.
- Heat the oil in the pot over high flame. Brown the meat in two batches, deep and dark, and set each batch aside on a lid. Crowding it steams instead of browns.
- Drop the dried shallot into the pot, then pour in a splash of water and scrape the bottom clean.
- Lift the mushrooms out of their liquid, squeeze them, and chop them rough. Pour the soaking liquid in slowly and leave the last spoonful behind — that's where the grit sits.
- Return the meat, add the mushrooms, coffee, bouillon, cocoa, thyme, garlic powder, bay leaf, and another 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil.
- Drop to the lowest simmer you can hold, cover, and cook 45 minutes, stirring every ten so the flour does not catch. Add water only if it goes past thick into dry.
- Pull the bay leaf. Taste for salt. Spoon horseradish over each bowl.
Coffee and cocoa are here for color and bitterness, not flavor you can name. They push the broth dark and give it a floor that plain bouillon does not have. The porcini soaking liquid does the same job from the other direction — it is the strongest ingredient in the pot, which is why the grit at the bottom of the mug matters enough to leave behind.
The original is a restaurant braise with fresh stock, butter, and grated horseradish. On the trail the stock becomes bouillon, the brewed coffee becomes instant, and the butter goes away because it will not survive the drive. The flour dredge stays: it browns on the meat and thickens the stew later, so one ingredient does two jobs. The meat is the only cooler item, and it needs the full 45 minutes at a real simmer to stop being tough.
Packing
Flour, coffee, bouillon, cocoa, thyme, garlic, and shallot premix into one bag at home. Mushrooms in their own bag so they stay dry. Meat rides frozen in the cooler and is a day-one or day-two cook.
Variations
- Swap the bison for two pouches of shelf-stable beef tips and cut the simmer to 20 minutes. No cooler needed.
- Serve over instant mashed potatoes or couscous to stretch it to six people.
- A dutch oven over campfire coals works if you can keep the heat low for the full 45 minutes.
https://foragerchef.com/bison-stew-with-dried-bolete-mushrooms-and-coffee