Dining dollars: Family meals on a budget

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add onions and boil until tender, but not falling apart, 25 to 30 minutes.

While onions are cooking, in a large skillet, heat the vegetable oil over medium heat, add the ground meat and let cook, breaking the meat apart with a spoon until 75% cooked. Remove meat to a plate and discard all but 1 tablespoons of the rendered fat and oil.

Return the pan to the heat. Add the garlic and stir until golden, about 3 minutes, add the meat back to the pan. Add the spinach, wilt, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and place in a fine sieve — push as much excess moisture from the spinach as possible. Return the spinach to the pan and raise the heat to medium high; add the cream and thyme sprigs. Reduce the liquid until the pan is almost dry (about 1 tablespoon of liquid). Remove from heat.

Remove onions from pot with a slotted spoon and, when cool enough to handle, cut off top inch of each with a sharp knife and finely chop tops. Trim root end of each onion slightly, if necessary for onions to stand up without rolling. Scoop out about a heaping tablespoon from center of each onion (keeping outside intact) and finely chop, adding to rest of chopped onion. Transfer hollowed onions to an oiled 8-inch-square baking dish.

In a medium bowl, combine the meat, spinach mixture. Coarsely chop lemon zest, eggs, breadcrumbs, and feta cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Divide the mixture evenly among the scooped-out onions. Drizzle the tops with the remaining olive oil and bake for 30 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature.

In a large skillet over medium heat, gently sweat the onions in the vegetable oil, for about 20 minutes, or till deep golden brown — be careful not to burn. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment or a silpat.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.

Using two forks or a bench knife, cut the butter into the flour until butter pieces are about pea-sized. Add the onions and toss in the dry ingredients. Add the buttermilk and stir just until most of the flour is absorbed by the buttermilk and the dough forms a coarse lump, about 1 minute. It will be a glunky mess.

Dust a clean, flat work surface with flour and gently fold the dough over itself until it comes together — do not overwork or stretch the dough. Press or gently roll the dough into a 3/4-inch-thick square.

Dip a biscuit cutter in flour and start cutting biscuits, dipping the cutter in flour between each biscuit. Press straight down to cut and lift straight up to remove; do not twist — this prevents the biscuit from rising

Bake for about 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool about 10 minutes, then serve with plenty of butter.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a large 2-quart gratin or casserole pan

In a large saute pan over medium heat, melt the butter in a large (12-inch or bigger) skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil, then the cabbage and scallions. Season generously with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring, until the cabbage is nicely wilted and just beginning to brown in spots, about 10 minutes. Add the stock and adjust the heat to a simmer, and cook about 5 minutes.

Transfer to the prepared dish. Tightly cover with foil, and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil, and continue to bake until the liquid is mostly evaporated, about 20 minutes more. Then remove the dish from the oven. Sprinkle with cheese, increase oven temperature to 375, return the dish to the oven, and cook until the cheese is thoroughly melted, about 10 minutes. You can serve now, but for extra deliciousness, put under the broiler for 2 minutes.

Pulled pork sandwiches
In a large saucepan over high heat, stir together BBQ sauce and chicken stock. Add leftover pork. Bring to a boil, lower to simmer, cover and cook about 1 1/2 hours, or until the pork is falling apart. Remove from liquid, let cool about 5 minutes. Using 2 forks, pull the pork apart. Return to pan and stir.

Heat beans. Place about 1/2 cup of leftover pork onto bun, add beans and cole slaw.

Cole slaw
In a large bowl, combine ingredients and stir well. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

BBQ sauce
In a large saucepan over medium heat, heat oil. Add onion, garlic, and chile and slowly cook until onion becomes translucent. Add tomatoes, ketchup, vinegar, sugar, bay leaf, and stock. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook about 30 minutes. Adjust seasoning.