The day after Christmas, in the spirit of Italian Christmas Eve seafood feasts, we made a rich cioppino and the most heavenly loaf of ciabatta. All you could hear was slurping and moaning.
Topped with manchego cheese and piquillo peppers (peppers not shown here – ran out).
After baking, topped with serrano ham, arugula, olive oil, and vinegar.
Two important things about the preparation of meaty, tender, and juicy beef ribs:
1) Under no circumstance buy ones that have the meat between the ribs gouged out. That’s the best part !
2) I separate into individual ribs before marinating and smoking. This allows the larger globs of fat to render out and accelerates even cooking.
Just a little of the honey/lemon sauce so that it isn’t too sweet and lets the flavor of the deep-fried shrimp shine through.
I woke early and started the fire of oak and pecan, standing close to its warmth in the 5-degree cold as the sun was rising over the mountains. Later we feasted on a big fire-roasted chicken, dipping sauce, and thyme/honey sweet potatoes.
