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What is black when you buy it,
red when you use it,
and gray when you throw it away?
The answer is Charcoal.

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Ken's Bavarian Beer-Cheese Soup

Saute vegetables in butter till the onions are clear.
Blend in pepper, mustard and flour.
Add stock and cheese.
Heat over very low heat until the Cheddar cheese is melted.
Add beer.
Serve hot with croutons and a dash of paprika. Serves 6 to 8.

1 Loaf frozen white bread
1 Pound Italian sausage
1.5 Cups grated mozzarella cheese
0.5 Tsp. Italian herbs
2 Eggs
Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Remove casing from sausage and cook in pan. Sausage should crumble into pieces which are about the size of sausage when topped on a pizza. Once cooked, mix with cheese, herbs and (1) one beaten egg.
Thaw bread, but do not let it rise. Roll it out to 6" x 18" in size. Spread the filling and roll up inside of the bread dough. Place on a greased cookie sheet and form a ring. Make slashes every 1.5" on diagional around the complete top of the ring. Brush with one (1) beaten egg and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Let rise for 30 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve warm.

The cooked sausage ring freezes well for later use. It is also great for Sunday brunches.

1-2 packages of Hilshire farm Ltl Poleska and or Little Smoky sausages
1 jar of sweet frenches mustard -( hot dog stuff)
1 jar of RED CURRENT JELLY

Throw all into a small crock pot- stir to coat with wooden spoon or spatula. Cook on "high" 2-4 hours before your party and walk away. Stir occasionally to make sure everything is coated. The sauce should be well blended, nice and bubbly - sample as you see fit.

You may only need to cook on "High" for 2 hrs or "low" for 3-4 hours. The idea is to let the little sausages simmer very slowly in the sauce until the sauce is slightly thickened and the sauce is well blended. It is hard to "over cook" in the crock pot. If you are in a hurry , place all the ingredients in a large sauce pan at cook over very low heat for maybe 20- mins and then transfer to a chaffing dish.

The is an elegant mix of roasted garlic, eggplant and olives- spread on a slice of Baguette French sourdough, sprinkle with a bit of gorgonzola cheese, serve with a glass of chanti, and you will definitely believe you are relaxing in the Italian countryside. Do this on day ahead or early in the morning to let the flavors blend

To roast garlic; - slice the top 1/3 of a head of garlic- set aside. Place the garlic on a square of aluminum foil. Drizzle virgin olive plus about I tsp on Balsamic vinegar on both cut surfaces of the garlic. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and ground pepper. Re assemble the head of garlic close up the aluminum foil tightly around the garlic and place the foil on a preheated 400-425 degree oven for approximately 45 minutes.

In this case you can roast the garlic and the eggplant in one operation. Slice the eggplant in half lengthwise starting from the stem. Score the cut surface of the eggplant and sprinkle with a bit of sea salt�Place the eggplant CUT SIDE DOWN on a greased cookie sheet along with the garlic you plan to roast. Bake in a 400-425 oven for aprox 45+ minutes or until the eggplant skin is very soft to the touch. Remove from the oven and let cool.

In a food processor- scoop out the egg plant flesh- discard the skin, next squeeze the pulp from the roasted garlic into the food processor, add approximately � cup of the olive tapanade** to the mix and pulse for about 30 seconds until you have a nice chunk type spread. As said earlier, do this early in the day or the day before to allow the flavors time to meld. Note; the olives will add salt and flavor; wait for several hours before adding any additional seasoning. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

** Tapanade--NOTE: AG Ferrari is an upscale Italian grocery chain that specializes in all things Italian in terms of food�cheeses, wine, and bread pasta deserts ECT. For the unprepared, this place is about as hazardous as ALs hobby shop can be to your wallet. Ask for their olive tapanade that is a chunky mixture of both black and green olives. Most bottled olive spreads are simply black olives and do not seem to have the character of this spread. If you do not have an AJ Ferrari near you � use the bottled stuff available in most grocery stores.

Warm soda bread on a cold Irish morning is about as close to heaven that any Irishman gets on a daily basis. The original recipe calls for buttermilk that adds a lot of fat to the end product. I have substituted low fat milk with equally good results. Use buttermilk if you see fit. What I like about the recipe is that because no yeast is used, the whole process takes about an hour and a half start to finish.

Note: I use unseasoned rice vinegar in most of my recipes because of its mild neutral flavor. You can use regular distilled vinegar if you choose. Do not use a wine or other flavored vinegar.

Place the cranberries, raisins and dates in a bowl. Cover with hot water and allow them to soak in the hot water while you are preparing the rest of the ingredients.

In a large bowl combine the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Use your fingers to make sure things are well mixed. Drain the water from the cranberries, raisins and dates. Add them to the flour mixture. Add the softened butter.

This is perhaps the most important step. Blend the flour, cranberries, raisins, dates and softened butter until the whole mixture looks crumbly. Take your time and use your hands to mix everything together.

Add 1 beaten egg.

Add the vanilla to the milk/vinegar mixture, and then add the whole mixture to the combined flour etc.

Add the honey.---Use a spatula and if necessary, your hands to combine the liquid ingredients to the flour mix.

At this point he dough will be very soft. Turn the dough out on to a well-floured board. Kneed the dough with your hands for 2-5 minutes. DO NOT OVER KNEED. Use only enough extra flour to prevent the dough from sticking to the board and your hands. Cut the dough in half to make two loaves. Sprinkle a bit of corn meal on a non-stick cookie sheet and place the dough halves cut side down, about 4 inches apart on the cookie sheet.
NOTE: Irish folklore says that if you don�t cut a cross in the top of the bread, the bread will not rise! Now I don�t know about you, but I�m not about to incur the wrath of an irate Irish Bread Banshee. Cut a cross in the top of each loaf and sprinkle with a bit of extra cornmeal. Bake a full 35-40 minutes at 375 then enjoy your trip to Irish heaven.

Step (1)- To begin: Over high heat, Brown 6 to 8 lbs. of lean Country Style pork ribs in a large heavy bottomed Dutch oven. I often use two pans at the same time to speed up the process. Make sure ribs are well browned on all sides. Season with a bit of Seasoned Salt & pepper while browning the ribs.

Step (2) Brown the ribs as described in step 1.Add 1/2 cup of Dry Sherry, 4 to 6 cups of water, 3 -4 �cracked� cloves of garlic, a couple of Bay leaves and a couple of whole green onions and simmer the ribs over low heat for about 1 hour. You will most likely have to use two pans to cook the ribs. Cool and drain the ribs before going to the next step.
NOTE: If you use two pans, make sure you put the SAME ingredients in both pans.

Step (3) --THE �SECRET SAUCE�:---While the ribs are simmering, make the sauce.
In a large heavy bottomed sauce pan, Add the following:

1 medium onion chopped fine.
3-4 minced cloves of garlic.--For garlic lovers, substitute ONE WHOLE HEAD of roasted Garlic ( See note below).
1 cup of catsup.
1/4 cup each, *Red Wine vinegar and Worcestershire sauce. *Balsamic Vinegar also works very well.
1/3 cup brown sugar
Approx. 1 1/2 tbls....Chili powder
Approx. 1 tsp. each oregano, basil, & rosemary.
Season Salt & pepper.
3 to 4 very thin slices of lemon
2 cups of water.

Saute onion and garlic until limp. Add remaining ingredients, and simmer over low heat while ribs are steaming. Simmer about 45 minutes, until sauce is slightly reduced and thickened. Note: For a thicker sauce:--.Mix about a tablespoon of cornstarch with several tablespoons of cold water in a small bowl Add the cornstarch mixture to the sauce and stir during the last few minutes of simmering.

STEP (4)-- preheat oven to approximately 300 degrees f. / or 180 degrees C.. (Remember, the key to good ribs is to cook low and slow!)
In a large flat baking pan- Place ribs in a single layer and cover ribs with sauce. Cover pan with aluminum foil and bake 1 hour. Remove the foil and bake another 20-30 mins.

NOTE: Roasted garlic is a gift from the gods: Simply cut the top third off the top of the garlic, coat clove with some regular olive oil or cooking oil- drizzle a bit of balsamic vinegar on the cut clove if you have it. Wrap tightly in aluminum foil and bake in the oven for 30-45 minutes~ 425 degrees F. Let the clove cool completely. When you are ready, simply squeeze the clove like a lemon and add the roasted garlic to your sauce. Note: You can brown, simmer the ribs and make the sauce a day ahead. Do the final baking of the ribs just before your guests are scheduled to arrive. Chefs tip: If you have time, pour the sauce over the ribs and let them marinate over night. Then do the final baking just before your guests arrive. The results are spectacular!

Shrimp Adobo on the barbie
(serves 9)

Bert's Gumbo