My husband enjoyed the stew, which is sort of what I expected, since he grew up in England, and except for the whole plate of tripe in tomato sauce he was served in Italy, will eat and appreciate nearly anything.  Our son enjoyed the stew, too, though I’ll confess, I never mentioned the kidney addition to him.  Perhaps after making it another time or two I will casually mention the kidney inclusion, matter-of-factly.  That seems to be the best MO when introducing unusual foods to him.  He might not even realize that kidney is an unusual thing to eat in America anymore.  It certainly is going to show up on our table more often.  

 

It’s not that kidney is so delicious, but that it isn’t awful, and better than one might imagine.  I’m pretty convinced that eating organ meats from healthy, well-raised animals (not stressed CAFO animals on unnatural feed rations) can be a healthy, nutrient-dense component of our diet.  It certainly is a good budget-stretcher, because so few people even want more than boring boneless premium parts anymore.  Organ meats were an important part of paleo diets, often consumed before the skeletal muscle, and until recently, were even included in most agriculture-era diets, unless one was rich enough to be selective.  

 

For those who wonder what kidney is like, I would describe it as a similar to liver, but milder than cow liver in flavor.  The diced kidney was very tender, like tongue, with little resistance, due to the simmering over low heat for about 3 hours.  Personally, the 2-to-1 ratio of bison meat to kidney was perfect - enough kidney to know it was there, but not so much that it dominated the stew.  

 

In fact, when I made a comment to my husband about the bison not being as tender as I expected, my son interjected with the observation that it actually was so tender it “fell apart” when he chewed it.  Of course, he was referring to the kidney, not the diced bison round steak, but he didn’t know that.  It took a lot of effort not to “filter” my wine through my nose at that moment, but I when I recovered my composure, I covered with a comment about the wine going down the wrong way, not his mistaking kidney for bison meat.  That was the only thing he said about it.  Eating his entire portion said it all, as far as I am concerned.

 

I took some step-by-step photos while I prepared the stew, which I’ll work into one of my “Comic Recipes” and post soon.