Gorilla Breakfast: Back Bacon And Eggs

It's rare that you get to slice your own back bacon (what you call Canadian Bacon in the US), so The Gorilla took full advantage, serving up a veritable ham steak with poached eggs, Paleo ketchup and fresh espresso.

So tasty it's even smiling!

Yum.

Dinner: Smoked Pork Hock

Smoked pork hock, again from Old Country Meats And Deli. The smoked hock is already fully cooked (it's basically a ham, right?), roasted gently in the oven for an hour at 325° then served. Pare the rind off with a sharp knife and dig in!

Breakfast Of Gorillas: Chorizo And Espresso

Chrorizo from Old Country Meats And Deli, served with Dijon mustard and fresh-ground Espresso.

The sausages were pan-seared on medium heat for 8 minutes a side so that they were cooked through but still juicy.

Bacon Ends

5lbs of bacon ends for $7. You can't lose!

Surprisingly little known, despite the hurricane of hype and mania surrounding the whole bacon meme on the Internet, bacon ends are the trimmings left over from when a slab of smoked pork has been run through the slicer.

Because they're trimmings they're considered scraps, which is preposterous when you look at the big thick chunks of meat and fat that you'll find in a package of bacon ends. Sometimes you'll end up with a veritable BACON STEAK. If that's not the Holy Grail of bacon, The Gorilla doesn't know what is.

The good news is that because they're considered scraps, grocery stores sell them CHEAP. The bad news is that bargain hunters know this and you have to get to the store pretty early before someone else cleans out the meat counter.

How does it taste? Like bacon, obviously. Yummy!

T-Bone Steak

24 1/2oz t-bone steak. Brushed with olive oil and seasoned with dried roasted red pepper seasoning. Served with a glass of Merlot.

Preheat BBQ on high to at least 500° F. Slap steak on rack above flame and sear for 1 minute on each side. Turn heat down to low and move steak to upper rack. Let broil 3 minutes per side, or more/less depending on your preference.

Brushing with oil and searing the steak on high is the key to getting attractive grill marks and, more importantly caramelizing that yummy beef fat.

Bison Cross Rib Roast Seasoned With Mountain Spice

a 5lb bison cross rib roast seasoned with Mountain Spice and cooked on the BBQ for 1.5hours at 275° F. Served with a roasted onion and a glass of Merlot

Slow low heat is crucial for a delicate lean meat like bison in order to keep it tender. Too much heat and it turns to leather.

The roast sat for a day in extra virgin olive oil with a generous dry rub of Mountain Spice on it.


Here's the recipe for Mountain Spince. It is said to be the creation of Chef Michael Mandato at Jasper Park Lodge.

1/4 cup crushed juniper berries
1/4 cup crushed black peppercorns
1/4 cup crushed sun dried blueberries
1/2 cup coarse salt
1/4 cup toasted and crushed coriander seeds

Mix all ingredients well, store in an airtight container until needed.

If you don't have a spice grinder, you're probably going to want to get one. A burr-type coffee grinder purposed solely for spices is also good.

Bison Ribs, Redux

The Gorilla never tires of bison ribs. As per popular demand, here's how to prepare them:

Coat in BBQ sauce and leave in the fridge overnight in a covered container to let the flavor soak in.

Soak wood chips in water for fifteen minutes in preparation for putting them in the smoker. Applewood is The Gorilla's favorite, but any wood smoke you like will do.

Put smoker box in BBQ and preheat to 275°. Low heat is crucial to keeping the meat tender and carmelizing the BBQ sauce without making it blacken.

Shoot for a two hour cooking time. In this case The Gorilla took them off at 1hr 45 min because they looked done and he was really, really hungry.

They turned out perfectly, a little red-pink on the inside and with the fat all hot and gooey.

Now The Gorilla is hungry again!

Condiment Edition: Garlic Aioli

If you're looking for a hot and spicy dipping sauce, it's hard to go wrong with a picante Aioli. It's pictured here with some sweet potato fries, but it's just as good, if not better dabbed on meats like roast beef.

Also, if you're a competitive lifter looking to go up a weight class, consider smearing this on everything you eat. JP Sanchez would be proud.

1 cup mayonaise

1 tablespoon cayenne powder

3 cloves fresh garlic

juice of 1 lemon

Mix ingredients and stir until consistency and color is uniform. Cover and refrigerate overnight to give the flavors a chance to meld and amplify.

Feel free to monkey with the proportions depending on how spicy or how garlicky you want your dip to be. Personally The Gorilla likes his Aioli take-your-head-off pungent.

Prime Rib Roast

2.8kg bone-in prime rib roast, brushed with extra virgin olive oil and seasoned with thyme, salt and pepper.

Roasted for 2 hours at 275°

The low heat is essential to maximize the prime rib's tender, buttery, melt-in-your-mouth consistency. The Gorilla likes his red meat blood rare, feel free to cook longer to your own tastes, but low heat is key.

Joe Jost's Pickled Eggs

Today's installment of Gorilla Chow features a guest recipe. As The Gorilla's friend explains:

Joe Jost's is a tavern in Long Beach, CA that only sells hot dogs on a piece of bread, beer and the most deliicious pickled eggs known to man.

Here's the recipe:

Joe Josts Pickled Eggs

24 hard-boiled eggs, peeled
2 (12 ounce) jar yellow chili peppers. “Mazetta brand”
4 tablespoons pickling spice
2 cup white wine vinegar
3 scant cups water
2 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoon tumeric
4 teaspoons salt

Mix all ingredients except eggs together in a glass jar with tight-fitting lid. Put peeled eggs in liquid. Don't refrigerate. Keep eggs in sealed jar at least two days before using. May refrigerate after two days. The marinade may be used several times; just add more egg

Perfect hard-boiled eggs

It is best to use eggs that have been sitting in your fridge for 4-5 days. You will find they peel easier.
Place eggs in shallow pot or large frying pan. Cover with cold water and place on stove with high heat. After water boils, wait 1 minute and remove from heat. Allow to sit for 10 minutes. Drain water, and rinse with cool water. Peel and place in pickling solution.

Pork Chops

Pan-fried thick-cut pork chops with white wine mushroom gravy.

Lightly oil pan, cook porkchops at medium heat for 15 minutes per side. Remove from pan when done and add white wine to pan, scraping to deglaze all the porky goodness.

In a saucepan heat up mushroom soup, when hot add the white wine reduction/pork deglaze, heat on low, simmering to reduce further.

Serve. Eat.

Happy Belated Ukrainian Orthodox Christmas!

From Left: Slavutich, Slava, Obolon

Budmo!

Ribs: It's What's For Dinner

Two racks of bison ribs.

The Snow Shoveler's Lunch

The Gorilla had to contend with two feet of snow today. After labors like that, here's a hearty lunch:

20 ounces or rare sirloin, 4 poached eggs, bacon, and Paleo ketchup

Coming Soon!