Last weekend we had our Smoke Party. Once a summer, we have lots of friends over and Ebo smokes a bunch of food, and I cook and grill more food, and we hang out and eat and drink and laugh until we are too full or too tired to stay vertical.
It started several years ago when our friends and family chipped in on Ebo’s birthday gift of the gargantuan hand-built smoker of his dreams. (He now lusts after a newer, shiner, prettier model, here. I’m hoping this is not his m.o.) Ebo learned a lot from Chris Lilly and the guys at Pitmaker in Las Vegas at a Kingsford event earlier this year, and then by touring the pits of many a barbecue joint in Taylor and Lockhart, Texas: his brisket and ribs were the best they’ve been. In fact, a friend at the party, restaurateur and food historian Maricel Presilla, tweeted “He is the Yoda of smoke”. But taller than Yoda he is.
Yoda and his Smoke disciple, Obi Wan Kenobee
We didn’t just serve smoked food. Here’s the menu. Click on the highlighted dishes in the list below for recipes.
To start (Appetizers):
Marinated Olives (photo courtesy of Bernadette Cuevas www.btcphotography.com)
Onion Dip
Baba Ganoush
Assorted Cheeses
Guacamole (made by our friend Trudy Solin)
To Continue (Main course):
Smoked Ribs (photo courtesy of Bernadette Cuevas www.btcphotography.com)
Rosemary Grilled Chicken w Peach Calamata Topping (photo by Bernadette Cuevas, www.btcphotography.com)
Grilled Peach, Calamata Olive and Red Onion Topping
Smoked Brisket
Smoked Ribs
Smoked Barbecue Sauce
Rosemary Grilled Chicken Thighs with Grilled Peach Calamata Topping
On the Side:
Grilled Vegetable Platter
Corn, Basil and Tomato Salad (photo courtesy of Bernadette Cuevas, www.btcphotography.com)
Cucumber Salad w Shallot Vinaigrette (photo courtesy of Bernadette Cuevas, www.btcphotography.com)
Cornbread with Flying Pigs Bacon (photo courtesy of Bernadette Cuevas, www.btcphotography.com)
Alice and her Sugar Snap Salad w Ginger Sesame Dressing (photo courtesy of Bernadette Cuevas, www.btcphotography.com)
Grilled Vegetable Platter
Cucumber Salad with Shallot Vinaigrette
Cornbread with Flying Pigs Bacon
Alice’s Sugar Snap Salad with Ginger Sesame Dressing
For Dessert:
Tower of Brownies
Not-as-good-as-Ed’s Brownies (seen above)
Ed’s Brownies (our friend and chef extraordinaire Ed Magel)
To Drink:
Two Iced Teas (photo courtesy of Bernadette Cuevas, www.btcphotography.com)
Wine, Beer, Sangria
Soda
Mint, Green and White Iced Tea (pictured above, front)
Iced Fruit Tea (pictured above, back)
We also had beautiful flowers on every table, thanks to my friend Laurie, who always knows exactly what flowers to bring me. Some of the bunches had mint in them, which smelled as pretty as it looked.
the photos are fabulous. Miss Juliet is quite the natural.
She’s a smoker in training…
OK enough now with the brownie envy!
Exquisite menu from te two of you. How lucky to be on that list!
Great photos Bernadette by the by.
Oh, how I wish I had been there!
Well, it’s not like you weren’t invited. Sniff, sniff. You re the one who let a small detail like air travel keep you away. (That, and the fact that you are coming here a week later…but let’s not get mired in trivial logistics.)
And on top of that, it could have been valid research: “What Yankees call barbecue, bless their hearts”
I HAVE BEEN DREAMING ABOUT THAT CORN SALAD SINCE HAD IT AT THE PARTY. THE LEFTOVERS I TOOK HOME WERE GONE BEFORE I HAD A CHANCE TO EAT THEM. THANKS FOR THE RECIPE. CAN’T WAIT TO EAT IT AGAIN!
I think I owe you a lifetime supply of that salad, Viv…
looks fabulous. Now this is a party!
If you’re ever in town, Alison, our doors will be flung wide open for you!
The party was a delight ..Thank you for having our extended family…(we’ll be 3 no Marge..now it’s 8..wait Marge now it’s 7, hold on now it’s 6. We all ate with gusto and the leftovers were amazing. The corn salad…the veggies..the ribs….the teas…the crisps…the DIP!!!…WOW. How lucky (and Blessed) we are to have you and David as friends and neighbors
Well, you tell Matthew we said thank you for being our ice man who cometh.
T’was a wonderful gathering with sumptuos food, lovely people, and a feeling of festivity. The only downer was the humidity. Get a handle on that next time, okay?
Musta been the heat from those tiki torches…
Now, that’s a barbeque! I love the corn salad. Made it for some of my lunches this week. Very excited…since I know I can’t go wrong with any of your recipes. 🙂 Thanks Grilled Peach Calamata Topping is next for sure…
Enjoy! The good news is…it’s good for days in the fridge! And for me, the other good news is that it is fairly low in calories and high in nutrients.
OMG, Everything looks soooo amazing! I might have to try some of that cornbread and get my son to do some smokin and grillin!