1

Spice rub: In a medium bowl, combine brown sugar, soy sauce, lemon zest, smoked paprika, thyme, ground ginger, garlic powder, allspice, black pepper, salt, and cayenne pepper. Divide rub between the two slabs, and rub it all over the ribs: top, bottom, sides, and ends. Place the ribs, meat side up, on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet fitted with a wire rack. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

2

Preheat oven to 275 F. Remove ribs from refrigerator and remove plastic wrap. Pour 2 cups water into the baking sheet under the ribs. Bake 1½ hours. (Note: Total rib cooking time will be 3 hours: 1½ hours with the dry rub in this step, and an additional 1½ hours with sauce in Step 5.)

3

Sweet Q Sauce: Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onions, chiles, garlic, and ginger and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables soften, about 10 minutes. Add coffee, beer, molasses, vinegar, ketchup, chicken stock, lemon juice, cayenne, and soy sauce and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat down to medium low and cook uncovered at a low simmer until reduced by about half, 30-40 minutes.

4

When the sauce is thick and reduced, remove from heat; pour into blender. (Place a kitchen towel over the lid and hold lid down firmly when blending hot liquids, or let sauce cool 30 minutes before blending.) Purée until smooth by starting on low speed and gradually increasing to high speed, 10 seconds. Taste and adjust seasoning for salt. (Makes about 2 cups Sweet Q Sauce.)

5

Finish ribs: Remove ribs from oven. Spread ½ cup sauce onto both racks of ribs and place back in the oven for another 1½ hours. Turn oven temperature to broil; cook ribs for 10 more minutes until dark brown, crispy, and caramelized on top. Remove from oven and let rest 10 minutes before cutting into 1- or 2-bone pieces. Serve with additional Sweet Q Sauce.

1. Halve the sprouts and thinly slice them into ribbons lengthwise. Rub the slices gently between your fingers to separate the layers and put them into a large bowl. 2. In a 12-inch nonstick skillet set over medium-high heat, cook the bacon until crisp, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel–lined plate to drain. 3. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the rendered bacon fat from the pan and return the pan to medium-high heat. Add the sprouts, salt, and pepper, and cook, stirring frequently, until browned, 4 to 5 minutes. 4. Transfer the sprouts to a large bowl, crumble the bacon on top, and add the apple pieces and cheese. Toss to combine, divide among 4 plates, and serve. Makes 4 servings.

1. To make the vegetable stock, chop onion, carrots, celery, and green onions. Heat oil in a large pot over high heat, add vegetables, garlic, and herbs, and cook 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add salt and water, bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 1 hour. Strain, reserving liquid and discarding vegetables. Simmer the reserved liquid for about 1 hour to reduce to 4 cups (1 L). Reserve 2 cups (500 mL) of the vegetable stock to make the gravy, and freeze the rest for another use. 2. To make the gravy, add dried mushrooms to boiling water and steep about 10 minutes, or until water is dark brown. Drain, reserving liquid. (Mushrooms may be discarded or chopped fine to add to gravy later.) 3. Melt butter with oil in a medium-size saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and cook, whisking, until it darkens and turns thick. (The colour of the roux will help determine the colour of the finished gravy.) Whisk in mushroom liquid and 2 cups of vegetable stock. Gently simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally to prevent clumps and scorching. Season to taste with salt, pepper.

1. In a large pot or deep-frying appliance, heat oil to 325 degreesF (160 degreesC). In small batches, carefully fry potatoes just until they soften but are not browned. Remove from oil and cool on counter for about 11/2 hours. 2. Once potatoes are cooled to room temperature, heat oil to 365 degreesF (185 degreesC). In small batches, fry the blanched potatoes until crisp and golden. 3. Place fries on plates; top with curds and then gravy. Variations: Additional toppings may include chopped smoked meat, any type of grated cheese, bacon, fried onions. Fries may also be topped with Elgin Street Diner Chili (recipe, page E3) and curds.

1. Fill your deep fryer or a tall pot with vegetable oil and preheat to 400 F (200 C), being careful not to overfill your pot and leaving enough room for the chicken.
2. Mix together the flour and a teaspoon each of salt and pepper.
3. Place the chicken thighs in a bowl and coat evenly with buttermilk.
4. Dredge the chicken thighs in the flour mixture one at a time to thoroughly coat, then place on a plate until the hot oil is ready.
5. Once your oil is hot enough, carefully place the chicken thighs one at a time into the hot oil and cook until they have reached an internal temperature of 165 F (70 C).
6. While the chicken is frying, mix the cayenne, paprika and a ¼ teaspoon each of salt and pepper in a metal bowl.
7. When the chicken is cooked, remove from the deep fryer and place on a wire rack with a baking tray underneath.
8. While the oil is still hot, using a metal ladle, carefully scoop out about half a cup of the oil and blend with spices. Use a pastry brush to baste the spices on the chicken.
9. Assemble the sandwiches with the pickles, ranch and lettuce. Serve and enjoy!

1. brine the ham
2. Bring all brine to boil, in 2 qts of water.  add 4 qts of water, add to ham.
3. refrigerate 4 days
4. remove night before to dry
5. preheat oven to 225F
6. Put glaze in blender, add to ham
7. Bake ham for 7 hours
8. take ham out of oven, turn temperature up to 375
9. Mix 2 tbs of honey to pan juices and brush ham
10. Add ham back to oven and good for another 45 mins until internal temp minimum 155F
11. Leave ham to rest 20 mins, and cut/shred on cutting board

Step 1 Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. Step 2 Place yeast into bowl of a large stand mixer; whisk in 1/2 cup flour and warm water until smooth. Let stand until mixture is foamy, 10 to 15 minutes. Step 3 Whisk 1 egg, melted butter, sugar, and salt thoroughly into yeast mixture. Add remaining flour (about 3 cups). Step 4 Fit a dough hook onto stand mixer and knead the dough on low speed until soft and sticky, 5 to 6 minutes. Scrape sides if needed. Poke and prod the dough with a silicone spatula; if large amounts of dough stick to the spatula, add a little more flour. Step 5 Transfer dough onto a floured work surface; dough will be sticky and elastic but not stick to your fingers. Form the dough lightly into a smooth, round shape, gently tucking loose ends underneath. Step 6 Wipe out stand mixer bowl, drizzle olive oil into the bowl, and turn dough over in the bowl several times to coat surface thinly with oil. Cover bowl with aluminum foil. Let dough rise in a warm place until doubled, about 2 hours. Step 7 Transfer dough to a floured work surface and pat to flatten bubbles and form into a slightly rounded rectangle of dough about 5x10 inches and about 1/2 inch thick. Dust dough lightly with flour if needed. Cut dough into 8 equal pieces. Form each piece into a round shape, gently tucking ends underneath as before. Step 8 Use your hands to gently pat and stretch the dough rounds into flat disc shapes about 1/2 inch thick. Arrange buns about 1/2 inch apart on prepared baking sheet. Dust buns very lightly with flour. Drape a piece of plastic wrap over the baking sheet (do not seal tightly). Let buns rise until doubled, about 1 hour. Step 9 Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Step 10 Beat 1 egg with milk in a small bowl, using a fork, until mixture is thoroughly combined. Very gently and lightly brush tops of buns with egg wash without deflating the risen dough. Sprinkle each bun with sesame seeds. Step 11 Bake in the preheated oven until lightly browned on top, 15 to 17 minutes. Buns will stick together slightly where they touch. Let cool completely, tear the buns apart, and slice in half crosswise to serve.

Start the dough by combining the water, sugar and yeast in a large bowl and let sit for a few minutes. If the yeast goes foamy, it's alive and you're good to proceed (if it doesn't, it's dead and you need new yeast). Add the olive oil and salt and 5 cups (600g) of bread flour. Mix until just combined, then start kneading. Add just enough additional flour to keep the dough workable (i.e. not too sticky) and kneed until you can stretch some of the dough into a thin sheet without it tearing. (NOTE: You will probably need to add a lot more flour. The quantity I give here is just a base line to get your started.) Divide the dough into four equal balls and put them in four containers (ideally glass) and lightly coat the balls and the interior of their containers with olive oil. Cover, and either rise at room temperature for two hours, or put them in the refrigerator and let them rise for 1-7 days. (I prefer the long, cold rise.) When you want to bake, put a pizza stone or pizza steel into your oven (mine works best on a high rack position but every oven is different) and preheat to your highest possible temperature, ideally convection, for a full hour.

serve with bread or crackers