I’m not a hunter but I appreciate the people I know who are, especially when they give me some of the spoils of their conquests. This week I was given 3 lbs of ground venison from a hunt the weekend before and knew immediately this was going to become chili. This weekend has been cold, wet and all around nasty and it was perfect for this Spicy Venison Chili recipe.

If you’ve seen my other steak recipes, it’s obvious I love rib-eyes. There’s not better cut of steak for grilling in my not so humble opinion. The high fat content and strong beefy flavor combination is unbeatable. It’s pretty much a tradition that when Mrs. PorknWhiskey goes out of town, I’m cooking a rib-eye that first night I’m home alone. My favorite way to cook a steak, especially a rib-eye, is in a raging hot cast iron skillet and finished in the oven. Not only do you get a great sear but you also have the makings of a kick ass pan sauce. However, I do also love the smokey flavor of a steak done right on a  charcoal grill. This gives a little of both. You’re going to need a grill to get pretty hot. At least 500-600° F. I use a Broil King Keg which is kind of like a Big Green Egg… but different. Either of these kamado style grills will get you enough heat but you can probably swing it with a regular kettle charcoal grill like a Webber or a nicer gas grill. You might need to lower your grates closer to the heat source.

Bacon.

Now that I have your attention here is another recipe for home curing and smoking your very own bacon. It’s easy, and good. It takes about 30 mins of prep, 7 days to cure and 3-4 hours on the smoker. The recipe calls for curing salt which you can ignore but it does have a place in this recipe. Also there’s a BLT recipe (like you need one) at the end.

 Shopping list

Bacon!

• 3-5 lbs pork belly, skin on
• 2 tbs. juniper berries, crushed
• 4 bay leaves, crumbled
• 1/4 cup kosher salt
• 2 tsp pink salt or curing salt – sodium nitrate (optional but suggested)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tbs of cracked whole peppercorns
• cherry wood chips

Bourbon, Bacon, Mustard Potato Salad

Bourbon? Yes. Bacon? Yes. Kick ass Mustard? yes.  This potato salad is easy quick and will cause all sorts of mama slapping when you serve it.

Shopping List

• 4 lbs of new potatoes, quartered
• 4 strips thick bacon, sliced into lardons. Use a good quality smokey bacon. I like Benton’s bacon
• 1 medium red onion, medium dice
• 1 large shallot, medium dice
• two cloves of garlic, smashed and fine diced
• 2-3 green scallions, thinly sliced green parts
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 3/4 cup bourbon I used Old Grand-Dad Bonded
• two heaping spoonfuls (ok fine let’s say about 3 tbs.) of quality whole grain or coarse ground mustard such as Lusty Monk Original Sin
• 1 large handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• sea salt
• fresh ground black pepper

What To Do

1. In a large sauté pan over low heat render the bacon lardons. Once all the fat is rendered remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and reserve on a paper towel covered plate. Remove pan from heat.
2. In a large pot, cover potatoes with cold water and bring to a boil. Cook until a knife easily slides into a potato.
3. Drain and return to pot to keep warm
4. Add the bacon fat pan back to medium-low heat
5. add the shallots, onion and garlic to the bacon fat. Saute until just translucent. 3-5 mins
6. slowly pour in the vinegar and bourbon into the pan. Be careful of splattering.
7. increase heat to medium
8. reduce the mixture for 2-3 mins
9. whisk in the mustard
10. reduce another 4-5 mins or until slightly thickened
11. move potatoes to serving bowl or large mixing bowl
12. add sauce, bacon lardons, green onions and chopped parsley to the warm potatoes
13. Fold bacon, bourbon onion mixture into potatoes
14. season with salt and pepper

Serving

You can serve it warm right away or pop it in the fridge and serve it later. I would let it come to room temp before serving if you choose to wait.

Rib-eye is king. Period. I will listen to no arguments against this so keep them to yourself.  It really only needs to be seasoned, cooked and served as is but a rich sauce that can stand up to it can be a nice addition. Blueberry sweetness with the smokey spice of the chipotles is becoming a classic combination and it does well to compliment the rich rib-eye. There are a number of steps to this meal but it’s really not that complicated and if you time everything correctly you should have no problem bringing everything together. I chose to pan sear the rib-eye for this but you could just as easily throw it on the grill with the corn, I just prefer the crust you get with this technique.

Shopping list and recipe below the fold.