• 1 pound bulk breakfast sausage
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup cream
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Form half of the sausage into two large patties and place into a skillet over medium-high heat. Flip the patties after 3-4 minutes and add the remainder of the loose sausage to the skillet.
2. Stir the loose sausage frequently to help it brown evenly and to keep it loose. After 3-4 minutes, break up the sausage patties into 1/2 inch chunks and continue cooking until everything is browned.
   
3. Add the butter to the sausage and stir the sausage until the butter has fully melted.
4. Sprinkle the flour over the sausage and stir to coat.
   
5. Add the milk, cream salt and pepper to the sausage and whisk the mixture making sure to get all the sausage bits off the bottom of the pan.
6. Continue to lightly whisk the gravy until it starts to bubble and thicken. Once the desired thickness has been reached, turn off the heat and taste. Add additional salt or pepper as needed.
   
7. Serve with the biscuits. Split a biscuit in half, lay the biscuit halves on a plate and pour a ladle full of sausage gravy over the top.

Serves 4-6

• In our house, we typically use 2% milk. If you are using whole milk and you don’t have heavy cream on hand then you can substitute more whole milk for the cream. I would not suggest using skim milk for this dish and I would not suggest eliminating the heavy cream if you are using 2% milk

• 2 cups plain yogurt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3/4 teaspoon dill
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cucumber, minced (About 1/2 cup)
• 2 medium cloves garlic, minced

1. The first step occurs the day before you plan to make tzatziki. The yogurt must be drained to remove excess moisture. This can be done using cheese cloth or a coffee filter. I usually use a coffee filter because the conical filters that my machine requires fit nicely into a strainer that I own. To strain the yogurt, place a strainer over a bowl or pitcher so that the bottom of the strainer is at least 2 inches above the bottom of the bowl. Place the coffee filter or cheese cloth in the strainer. Pour the yogurt into the filter and let stand in the refrigerator overnight. The yogurt will lose roughly half of its volume overnight.
   
2. The next day, place the lemon juice, olive oil and garlic into a blender. Pulse until the garlic is pureed.
3. Discard the liquid that was strained from the yogurt and place the strained yogurt into a mixing bowl.
   
4. Slice the cucmber in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Mince the cucumber and place onto a small plate. Lightly press the cucumber and pour off any excess water.
5. Add all the ingredients to the mixing bowl and stir to combine.
   
6. Allow the tzatziki to chill in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours before serving. Serve as a dip with pita wedges, cucumber spears or other dippable veggies.

Makes 1 1/2 to 2 cups

• If you prefer a smoother tzatziki, you can use a food processor to do the mixing. Add half the yogurt and all the other ingredients to the food processor and pulse until the mixture is smooth. Stir in the remaining yogurt and chill.

• 2 pounds pork shoulder, bone removed
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon rubbed sage
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1. Mix together the spices and sugar until thoroughly combined.
2. Cut the pork into 1-inch cubes. Place the cubes into a large bowl and add the spice mixture. Toss until the pork cubes are evenly coated.
3. Spread the pork cubes onto a pan or a small cookie sheet. Place the pork cubes into the freezer for 45–60 minutes. The objective is to get the pork very cold before grinding.
4. Remove half of the pork from the freezer and grind using a fine grinding plate. Once the first half is ground, place it into a bowl and into the refrigerator. Follow the same process and grind the second half.
5. Place all the ground pork into a single bowl and mix briefly to combine.
6. Form the sausage into 2 ounce patties and cook over medium heat, 4-5 minutes per side.

Makes 16 sausage patties

• 2 cups sifted all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter, cubed
• 3/4 cup cold milk

1. Preheat the oven to 450 F°.
2. To measure out the flour, first sift more flour than you will actually need into a separate bowl. Use a spoon to scoop the sifted flour into a measuring cup. Level off the cup but do not pack or compress the flour. Use this method to measure out two cups of flour.
   
3. Add the 2 cups of flour, the baking soda, sugar and salt to a mixing bowl and whisk to combine.
   
4. Remove the butter from the refrigerator and cube it. The process of cubing the butter will soften it just slightly which will help when cutting in the butter. Add 1/2 the cubed butter to the flour mixture.
   
5. Use a pastry blender to cut in the butter until there are no large pieces of butter remaining. Once the first half of the butter is cut in, add the remaining butter to the bowl and repeat the cutting in process. If you do not have a pastry blender you can use a sturdy fork to cut in. Use the flat bottom of the fork to push through the butter mixture until cut in.
   
6. Add the very cold milk to the biscuit dough and quickly stir to combine. Do not overwork the dough at this point. Just stir until it forms a sticky mass. If the dough appears to be too dry, add an additional tablespoon or two of cold milk.
   
7. Sprinkle flour onto the counter creating a floured area that is roughly 18″ x 18″. Use a spatula to dump the biscuit dough into the center of the floured area.
   
8. Sprinkle flour on top of the dough mass and flour your hands. Knead the dough 4 or 5 times and then form it into a ball. To knead the dough, I gently press it flat and then fold it over onto itself. Repeat this process 4 or 5 times, lightly sprinkling flour onto the dough whenever it starts to get too sticky.
   
9. At this point, you are ready to cut out biscuits. Press the dough into a flat round that is 1/2″ to 3/4″ thick, depending on how thick you like your biscuits. I usually go with the 1/2″. Use a 3 inch biscuit cutter to cut out 6 to 8 biscuits. Dip the biscuit cutter into flour and then press straight through without twisting. If you don’t have a biscuit cutter you can use an upside down glass.
10. Once the biscuits are cut out, press the scraps together to form one or two more biscuits. These extra biscuits won’t be very attractive but they will still taste fine.
    
11. Place the biscuits onto a baking sheet. For crunchy sides, keep the biscuits separated. For soft sided biscuits, use a smaller baking sheet and make sure the biscuits are just touching.
12. Place the biscuits into the preheated oven and bake the biscuits for 12-15 minutes or until they are golden brown on top.
    

Serves 8-10

• If you have a food processor then you can use it to cut the butter into the dough. Insert the blade attachment into your food processor and add the dry mix and the butter. Pulse the food processor 8-10 times to cut in the butter. Do not process too long or you will end up melting the butter and melted butter means bad biscuits.

• 1 pound dry beans
• 8 ounces bacon, finely chopped
• 1 medium onion, finely diced
• 2 teaspoons salt
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ½ teaspoon dry mustard
• 1 cup barbecue sauce
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• ½ cup brown sugar

1. Soak beans overnight in 8 cups of cold water. 
2. In the morning, discard the water and rinse the beans.  Place the beans back in a pot with 8 cups of fresh water.  Bring the beans to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.  Simmer the beans uncovered until tender, this will take 45-60 minutes.  Stir occasionally and monitor the water level.  I usually do not add water as long as the water covers at least half of the beans.  However, be careful not to let the pot dry out completely.
3. Pour the beans and water into the crock pot.  Add the onions and uncooked bacon into the crock pot.
4. In a microwave safe bowl, combine barbeque sauce, salt, pepper, dry mustard, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and brown sugar. Microwave for about a minute and then stir thoroughly to combine. Pour over the beans and stir the mixture together.
5. Cook for 6 to 8 hours on high or 8 to 10 hours on low or until beans are tender. If the mixture is too runny, remove the lid for the last 30 – 45 minutes of cooking.  If the mixture is too dry, add more liquid for the last 30-60 minutes of cooking. 

Serves 8-10

• I make my own pulled pork and I often have leftovers lying around.  I will often substitute 4 ounces of chopped pulled pork for half the bacon.  This gives the beans a slight smoke flavor.

Kibbeh Nayyeh

• 1 1/2 cups #2 bulgur wheat
• 2 pounds ground chuck
• 2 medium onions, chopped very fine or grated
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon allspice
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Stuffing

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 c. pine nuts
• 1 pound ground chuck
• 1 medium onion, chopped fine
• 1 1/2 teaspoons allspice
• 3/4 teaspoons nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt

1. Place dry bulgur into large bowl and cover with water. Set the bulgur aside to soak for 60 minutes.
2. In the meantime, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add the pine nuts to the skillet and fry until lightly browned.
3. Add 1 pound of ground chuck and cook until the meat has started to lose it’s pinkness.
4. Add the remaining stuffing ingredients and cook until the meat is completely browned. 
5. To make the kibbeh nayyeh, drain the bulgur and squeeze out any excess water.  Combine all the kibbeh nayyeh ingredients except the olive oil in a bowl and mix with your hands until combined.  This mixture should not be over worked so just try to get the spices and bulgur evenly distributed and then stop mixing.
6. Spread half of the kibbeh nayyeh mixture into a 9 x 13 pan.  
7. Once the first layer is in place, spread the cooked stuffing on top of the kibbeh nayyeh.
8. Spread the remaining kibbeh nayyeh mixture on top of the stuffing.  I find that the easiest way to do this is to tear off small pieces of the kibbeh nayyeh and distribute them throughout the pan.  Once all the pieces are in place, they can be pressed flat.
9. Using a sharp knife, cut diagonal lines through the kibbeh in order to create a diamond pattern.  Drizzle the olive oil over the kibbeh and then bake in a preheated oven at 350 F° for 1 hour.  Let the kibbeh rest for 5 – 10 minutes before serving.

Serves 8-10

Hints/Tips

• Hand grating the onion gives a better texture to the outer kibbeh layers.  I tend to chop instead of grate but that is more out of laziness than anything else.

• 1 cup #2 bulgur
• 4 medium Roma tomatoes, chopped
• 1 bunch flat leaf parsley
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped
• 1/4 cup dried mint (or 1 bunch fresh mint, chopped fine) 
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice (optional)
• 3/4 cup lemon juice
• 6 tablespoons olive oil

1. Place dry bulgur into a 2-quart bowl and cover with 4 cups of water. Set the bulgur aside to soak for 60 minutes.
2. After the 60 minutes, begin the taboulleh by preparing the parsley. To prepare the parsley, pick the leaves off of the stems, saving the leaves and discarding the stems.



3. Once the leaves and stems have been separated, finely chop the parsley leaves.



4. The tomatoes and onions should also be chopped at this time and combined with the parsley in a large bowl.



5. Drain the bulgur. Once drained, use your hands to scoop out a handful of bulgur and squeeze out any excess water. Once the water is squeezed out of the bulgur handful, add it to the bowl. Continue to do this until all of the bulgur is in the bowl.
6. Add the remaining ingredients to the bowl and toss to combine. If using the allspice, add it in at this time as well.
7. Allow the taboulleh to sit for at least 1 hour before serving. Just before serving, taste the taboulleh and adjust the salt, pepper, lemon juice or olive oil as needed.

Serves 6-8

• ½ cup plain yogurt
• ½ cup mayonnaise
• ¼ cup white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp black pepper
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp onion powder
• 8 ounces macaroni
• ½ cup cheddar, diced small
• ¼ cup red onion, diced small
• ¼ cup green pepper, diced small
• 1 tablespoon hot sauce (i.e. Frank’s Red Hot) (optional)

1. Dice cheese, red onion and green pepper.  Set aside.

   

2. Cook macaroni according to directions. Drain and cool. (I cool the macaroni by tossing with ice cubes until it is cold.)
3. Mix together hot sauce, yogurt, mayonnaise, vinegar, mustard, sugar, salt, black pepper, garlic powder and onion powder in a small bowl. Whisk until thoroughly blended.

   

4. Add all ingredients to bowl and stir to combine.
5. Refrigerate for at least two hours before serving.

Serves 6-8

• 1/3 cup plain yogurt
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• ¼ cup white vinegar
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp black pepper
• ½ head of large cabbage or 1 small cabbage
• 1 large or 2 small carrots

1. Shred carrots using a hand grater or food processor.  Chop shredded carrots until the pieces are roughly an 1/8” square.
2. Follow the same process for the cabbage, remove all the outer green leaves and then shred the cabbage.  Once shredded, chop into a small dice.



3. Mix the remaining ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until combined. 
4. Place carrots and cabbage into a bowl, pour dressing over the vegetables and stir to combine.
5. Refrigerate 60 – 90 minutes before serving.

• 12 ounces dried cannellini beans or 2 15-ounce cans cannellini beans (can substitute Great Northern beans) , drained and rinsed
• 2 cups crushed tomatoes
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 bay leaves
• Pinch of black pepper
• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• ¼ teaspoon salt (use 1/2 teaspoon if using dry beans)
• ¼ – ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 8 ounces uncooked ditalini
• Olive oil and parmesan to serve

1. If using dried beans, soak the beans in water overnight.  The next day, rinse and drain the beans before moving to next step.  If using canned beans, go to step 3.
2. Place the beans in a large sauce pan and cover with water.  Bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes.  Rinse and drain again.
3. Place the beans in a large sauce pan.  Add water to cover by 1 inch.  Add tomatoes, garlic, bay leaves, peppers and the oil.  Simmer for 1-2 hours or until the beans are tender.  The soup should be loose at this point so if needed, add more water.
4. Remove the bay leaves.  Stir the soup well and use a ladle to transfer about half the soup to a blender.  Do not fill the blender more than 2/3 full, it may be necessary to do two batches if the soup doesn’t fit in one batch.  Puree the soup in the blender and then return to the pan.  If the soup is too thick add 1–3 cups of water.  The soup should not be thick like oatmeal but thinner like gravy
5. Add salt and pasta.  Stir and cook until pasta is al dente. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.  Serve with parmesan and olive oil on the side. 

Makes 6-8 servings

• The pasta will become overcooked if it sits in the soup for too long.  If I am serving people over an extended period of time then I will cook the pasta and soup separately.  Once the pasta is cooked, toss with olive oil and set aside.  To complete a portion, mix the pasta and soup and heat for a couple of minutes over medium heat.