We first had this salad at a Thai/Lao restaurant in Virginia. It was freakin' awesome, and so we set making it at home. We combined three recipes and the result was quite good.

This recipe is a hybrid of Sharon's recipe and and a very intense online recipe. My guess is that both are derived from the Betty Crocker Cookbook.

Serves 6. Bakes in a 9x9 pan.

Meat sauce:

Cook and stir together until meat is brown and onion is tender:

• 3 Italian sausages (approx 0.5 lbs, mixed between mild and spicy; can substitute ground beef for all or part)
• ½ cup chopped onions
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• ½ cup sliced mushrooms

A great recipe for glazed ribs, perfect for the summer or winter with citrus. Adapted from Bon Appetit.

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Adapted from a recipe we found online, this flatbread or pizza is easy to make and tasty. Cut it into small squares to serve at a party.

• 1 rack of Pork Spare Ribs (not the "country style" which are thicker and harder to cook thouroughly)
• Salt and pepper
• Sauce (recipe follows)

Salt and pepper (with smoked salt, if available) a rack of ribs as it comes up to room temperature, 30 minutes to an hour ahead of BBQing.

Over a medium flame, sear the ribs on both sides. Move away from direct heat, add wood chips, and let cook via smoke and indirect heat at 250° for ~4 hours (2-3 for baby back ribs, more if you're smoking multiple racks). This brings in the smoke flavor and slowly cooks the rack.

This runs the risk of being Very Salty, but if you can avoid that fate, it is Very Tasty.

From Mark Bittman via Tex-Mix

1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling
2 cups cooked dry or canned chickpeas, as dry as possible
Salt and black pepper
4 ounces Spanish chorizo, finely diced (3 or 4 small links)
1/2 pound leafy spinach, roughly chopped
1/4 cup sherry (or sweet vermouth, or red wine - but not sherry vinegar)

Prep the Trinity

Chop the onions, bell pepper, and celery and mix together. Pull of 1/4 to preserve for the final step.

Make the Roux

Heat oil in heavy 6-quart pot (or dutch oven) over medium-high heat until very hot and almost smoking. Add flour and stir constantly until mixture is a deep, clay red - well past "peanut butter", but not burnt/dark red/dark brown either. Reduce the heat as you go -- 15-30 minutes.

Add the Trinity

When I was a little kid, my mom and I once made dumplings/potstickers with this neat white foldy press (that helps crimp them together). There's a really cute picture of me at about 3 years old, standing on a step-stool, wearing an apron, and proudly holding up a potsticker.

Anyway, on a recent visit to Los Angeles, I saw the potsticker crimper sitting in a drawer (probably unused by my mother since that day in the photo), and asked if I could take it home. (I subsequently saw the exact same crimper for sale at Hill's Kitchen about a week later, but oh well.) With the proper implement in hand, and having just acquired a "Cook's Illustrated" recipe for perfect potstickers (compliments of Jon's mom), we went to making potstickers.

The recipe that follows is a combination of the Cook's recipe and the handwritten one my mom had from an Asian cooking class she took long ago. No doubt that is the recipe I followed at age 5.

Makes 2 12" round pizzas.

This was the first recipe Jon learned from his Mom, because, damn it's good pizza!

Dough

make about 2 1/2 hours before serving

• 1 package active dry yeast (2.25 tsp)
• About 4 1/2 c. all purpose flour (have 6 c available for kneading/rolling)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 c. water

In large bowl, combine yeast, 2 cups flour and 1 teaspoon salt. In small saucepan, heat water until very warm (120 to 130F.).