I’m watching Top Chef right now and my mouth is watering as the cheftestants are cooking their own BBQ at The Salt Lick outside of Austin. I’m thinking of my own trip there last March. And seeing all this meat, I’m dreaming of the prime rib we had on Christmas day!

Slip’s cousin Michael used his Big Green Egg to smoke this huge piece of meat in Jack Daniel’s wood chips (that’s wood chips made out of old Jack Daniel’s wooden barrels— great flavor). 

The meat was juicy, tender, flavorful, and perfect. Michael served up slices (and ribs) with a creamy horseradish sauce, as well as fresh horseradish with a serious kick. We also had sides of salad, corn pudding, roasted root vegetables, mashed potatoes, glazed carrots, and fresh bread. And a gorgeous cake for dessert.

And leftovers? There were plenty. Prime rib sandwiches for a week!

I have failed to post this so far because I have not had enough time to dedicate to the marvel that was our Christmas dinner at Slip’s cousins’ home. Everything that I tasted was not only delectable, but inspiring and even intimidating. I don’t know how many pounds it was, but that massive rack of prime rib came out to be sliced and I was in love. It went something like this:

The meat was cooked perfectly— I don’t know how he did it. It was tender and pretty rare, just the way I like all steaks. He made a sauce which included fresh mushrooms, garlic, cream, and wine to accompany the meat. The sauce was rich and paired perfectly with the meat. Our dinner also included a beautiful compilation of roasted root vegetables (courtesy of Slip’s sister, and including turnips, beets, carrots, and sweet onion), green beans with walnuts and onions, really awesome mashed potatoes, and freshly baked dinner rolls.  My plate, which I would eat again right now, looked like this:

YUM!