Christmas 2023 At Almost Heaven South

Just as last year, Kathy and Keith, came from Nebraska to Tennessee for a couple of weeks and spent the first part of the visit with Wende and the second part with us.  After they did Christmas morning with Eliza at Wende’s, they all came down to our place for more Eliza present opening and Christmas dinner.

With the addition of friend Kathy, her daughter Ashley, and our neighbors, Pat & Steve, we had 14 for dinner - Pat, Steve, Ashley, Kathy, Wende, Ralph, Beanie, Eliza, Kathy, Keith, Larry, Beverly, Pat, Cindy.

In years past, I’ve smoked prime rib and after looking back, I realized Kathy (daughter) had never been here when we did, so it became the main dish and our menu became:

Korbel Sparkling Rose (Aperitif), Tossed Salad, Smoked Rib Roast, Au Jus, Twice Baked Potato Casserole, Homemade Rolls, Pumpkin Pie, and Chocolate Rum Cake.

For the rib roast, I bought a whole 17# roast,

trimmed the fat cap a little and scored it and cut off a little of the tail.

Ever wonder why there is very little meat on store bought beef ribs?  As this pic shows they leave as much meat on the roast as possible as it sells for a higher price.

I rubbed the roast all over in olive oil and added a good coat of Montreal Steak Seasoning as an experiment.  

Then I cooked it in the smoker at 225F to an internal temperature of 120F which took 6½ hours (the internal meat temp went up 10F/hour).  Then I put it in the 600F grill for 4 minutes to add the crust.  

Unfortunately, I didn't have time for a good rest, so I left some juice on the cutting board.

I made Au Jus using the recipe from Drive Me Hungry and I doubled it to make four cups in hopes of leftovers.

Easy Au Jus (No Drippings Needed)

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon cornstarch (or flour)

¼ teaspoon each garlic & onion powder

4 cups beef broth (I used a can on consume then broth)

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

salt & pepper - to taste

Instructions:

Over medium heat, melt the butter in a saucepan.

Add the flour and garlic & onion powder and stir together for a couple of minutes to cook the flour. (I stirred the cornstarch into the beef broth).

Add the beef broth and Worcestershire sauce, and whisk to combine. Bring it to a boil over high heat. Note: It should thicken slightly if using flour or cornstarch.

Taste and season with salt and pepper.

After slicing the roast, for those who wanted theirs a little more done, we gave it a brief dunk in the Jus, and a ladle of it went on each serving.

We made the Twice Baked Potato Casserole in Nov, 2021 and since we said then that “the potatoes were absolutely fantastic and one of the best potato dishes we have eaten,” I can’t believe we haven’t had it since.  Click the link for the recipe.

Before the main course, we enjoyed a delicious salad provided by neighbor Pat.

This is my plate.

The Verdict:

The food was all very good and the Montreal worked well as the seasoning.  One change for next time will be total removal of the fat cap and the fatty tail.  The Au Jus was very tasty and I will use the recipe again and the potatoes were delicious as expected.  Our guests seemed to enjoy visiting with one another so I would say it was a successful event.  

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

12/25/23 meal date