Fire on the Mountain: Cooking Wagyu Steaks & Kurobuta Pork in Idaho's Backcountry

Fire on the Mountain: Cooking Wagyu Steaks & Kurobuta Pork in Idaho's Backcountry

I’m working furiously to slice and plate a huge stack of SRF NY strip steaks. There’s a crew of 20 hungry skiers and snowboarders headed my way, and I can’t let them wait. They’ve been out all day on a snowcat trip, skiing and riding the backcountry surrounding Brundage Mountain near McCall, Idaho.

My teammate is Bob Atkinson, Marketing Manager for Big Green Egg, the iconic kamado grill. He’s a hardworking partner and arrived with a truckload of grills. One of the Big Green Eggs is set up for indirect grilling and we use it to bring the steaks up to 150°F. We use two blazing hot grills to put a final sear on the NY strips.

The backcountry snow was plentiful, and the crew arrives later than scheduled. Bob sears the steaks, and I slice them. I load each plate with portions of medium rare SRF NY strip steak, smashed Yukon Gold potatoes seared in SRF American Wagyu tallow topped with a spicy aioli, and garnish with a grilled scallion.

The group includes members of 10 Barrel Brewing, pro athletes sponsored by the brewery and editors from Sunset, Gear Patrol, The Inertia and Newschoolers.com. The hungry folks grab and eat faster than I can plate.

The payoff is the comments we receive. “This is the best steak I’ve ever eaten!” says one editor. I cook a lot of steaks, and must admit a SRF American Wagyu steak prepared on a Big Green Egg is hard to beat. Bob and I toast our success with a 10 Barrel Pub Beer.

Big Green Egg and 10 Barrel Brewing share the same PR agency, and a six-week promotion called “The Beer Lodge” was planned at Brundage. This brought numerous pro athletes to town to ski and ride with editors, share the stories of the sponsors and produce content to promote the brands.

The night before we did a fast and simple dinner of SRF Wagyu hot dogs and homemade lentil stew at the official 10 Barrel Beer Lodge, a huge property where the athletes spend their time. The deluxe rental includes a game room complete with a bar, spa and indoor swimming pool.

It was a great opportunity to meet the entire group. After dinner we did a guided beer tasting and ended the evening with a group contest that included a cocktail mixing tournament, a beer pong match and “build a raft with junk and pull it across the pool” event. With world class athletes in the mix, the competition was intense. Fortunately, I was able to lean into my college party experience to help my team take second place.

The final day was amazing. A foot of new powder, a bluebird sky and dinner at The Bear’s Den located on the mountain. Two extra large Big Green Eggs were hauled by snowcat to the venue. It was no easy feat to load and set-up the heavy ceramic grills.

Chef Keith Moreno from 10 Barrel in Boise prepared a feast that featured SRF Kurobuta rack of pork served with a zesty salsa verde. The completed dish was juicy, robust and delicious. The perfect end to a winter adventure. Working for Snake River Farms affords me with amazing experiences like these. It’s fantastic to introduce people to our American Wagyu beef and Kurobuta pork. When the location is out of the ordinary, like in the backcountry of Idaho or a chilly hut on a ski hill, somehow our amazing products just taste a little bit better. When Bob pitched the idea to work together, he said he wanted to combine skiing and grilling and call it “Fire on the Mountain.” After three successful days serving SRF cooked on flaming Big Green Eggs, we definitely achieved his goal.