Smoke & Soul: Christmas on the Smoker

The oven is busy enough at Christmas. This year, the whole holiday spread comes off the smoker.

Anybody can put a ham in the oven. But a man who stands in the cold, tends a fire for six hours, and carries in a smoked prime rib with the smoke still clinging to it — that man is saying you were worth the work. In Smoke & Soul: Christmas on the Smoker, Dr. Christopher D. Pritchard, D.D. — U.S. Marine Corps veteran, Buffalo native, and pitmaster — shares 50 original Christmas recipes, all built for the smoker and the grill.

Inside: prime rib three ways (herb butter, salt-crusted, peppercorn with red wine au jus), beef tenderloin with smoked garlic butter, double-smoked hams under brown sugar, cherry-bourbon, and maple-Dijon glazes, smoked leg and rack of lamb, a crown roast of pork, and pork belly burnt ends. The sides ride the same smoke — scalloped potatoes, sweet potato casserole, cornbread dressing, even the cranberry sauce — and so do the desserts, from smoked pecan pie to a fruitcake actually worth keeping. There is a full chapter on smoking in the cold (pit craft for winter, from a man who learned it in Buffalo) and a closing chapter of gifts from the pit: rubs, sauces, finishing salt, and candied bacon in jars.

This is the holiday volume of the Smoke & Soul line — real food, real fire, and directions written like a friend is standing in your kitchen. Zip up your coat, grab your thermos, and cook Christmas the way it ought to be cooked.

WHAT IS INSIDE:
Part One — The Centerpieces: prime rib three ways, beef tenderloin, three double-smoked hams, leg and rack of lamb, crown roast of pork, pork loin
Part Two — Party Food: pork belly burnt ends, ham burnt ends, meatballs, bacon-wrapped dates, smoked cream cheese, nuts, shrimp, scallops
Part Three — Holiday Sides from the Smoker: scalloped potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, cornbread dressing, cranberry sauce, dinner rolls, and more
Part Four — Smoked Desserts: pecan pie, bread pudding, cheesecake, gingerbread, and a fruitcake worth keeping
Part Five — Smoking in the Cold: winter pit craft, plus mulled cider and smoked hot chocolate
Part Six — Gifts from the Pit: cranberry-chipotle sauce, bourbon BBQ sauce, holiday spice rub, smoked garlic-herb salt, almond brittle, candied bacon, smoked herb butter