Smoked Salt & Pepper

Back in October of the last year, I lost my grandmother. She lived in Paris and I was thankfully able to attend her funeral. It's been a hard loss, and I'm not sure I've really allowed myself to fully process it all. I loved my grandmother, my ba ngoai , so much. More than I can even grasp. She is how I was able to appreciate food. She is the reason I can fully understand how love can be shown through food and cooking. Her cooking, the smells wafting through her tiny apartment in Paris, are tied to some of my best childhood memories. My ba ngoai taught me how to love everyone. She taught me how to smile in the face of adversity; how the glint in smiling eyes can disarm anyone. Ba ngoai lived through a lot. She lived through a war that tore her home and wealth from her, she lived through re-establishing herself and life in another country, she lived through her brother never coming home, she lived through raising 3 children, she lived through her husbands death...

Every year for Christmas, and sometimes for Thanksgiving (our family aren't huge turkey eaters), my mom makes her famous roast beef for my entire dad's side of the family.  It's something everyone has come to look forward to.  I think once she said she was going to make Osso Bucco or something else and I was like, No!!!!! you can't not make the roast beef!!!!  Many people have asked for the recipe and a few have tried to replicate, but no one in our family will be the roast beef queen like my mom is.  So, we definitely need to have this recipe here for prosperity. It's a relatively simple recipe but the key is to buy a really good quality piece of roast.  My mom says the key is to get certified black angus ribeye bone-in roast.  The best cut is between rib 6 and 12 so it's good to befriend your local butcher :)  Mom says it's pricey, maybe a little over $100 for a 6-8 lb roast, but that's what makes it so good. Mom's Famous Roast Beef For one 6-...