The Family Recipe One Top Chef Shares with His Kids

Los Angeles-based chef Tim Hollingsworth may be best-known for the refined cuisine he serves at his restaurant, Otium, or his win on Netflix show Final Table. But what charmed us most about watching this member of our 2021 Chefs’ Collective on his YouTube show Inside the Hollingsworth House was watching him make chocolate mousse with two active tots and an infant strapped to his chest—all with his wife Caroline behind the camera.

In the midst of a difficult, long year, he took up what he knew and loved—cooking—and got his kids excited about it, too, on his show. We also loved watching Tim and his kids make his Mom’s biscuits and gravy. “It’s a dish that my mom used to make for my siblings and I when we were little,” he told us. “It is really cool to be able to pass down the recipe and tradition to my wife and kids. Our kids are at the age now where they really love cooking along with me.”

How do they get involved? 20-month-old daughter River heads down the chicken coop to pick out fresh eggs for the biscuits and daughter Hunter helps grate the cold butter into the batter. Son Liam loves to whisk. And when it’s time to form the biscuits and cut them into rounds, everyone gets involved. “That is when the kids love to get their hands messy,” says Tim. “It’s a great way to enjoy Sunday morning with the kids and create memories.”

Here’s the recipe, but be sure to check out the show, too!

Biscuits & Sausage Gravy

Grandma’s Biscuits

Ingredients:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 Tbs. baking powder
• 2 tsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 8 Tbs. frozen unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 ½ cups milk, plus more for brushing
• Sausage Gravy (recipe follows)

Directions:

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Add the butter. Using a plastic bench scraper, pastry cutter, or two knives, cut in the butter until coarse crumbs form. Gradually stir in the milk until the dough comes together.

Turn out the dough onto a floured board. Using your hands, pat the dough into a rough rectangle about 1 ¾ inches thick. Fold the dough in half, turn a quarter turn, and pat again into a rectangle about 1 ¾ inches thick. Fold, turn, and pat again. Using a chefs knife, cut the dough rectangle lengthwise in half, then cut crosswise 4 times into 10 roughly equal pieces. Arrange well apart on a baking sheet and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat an oven to 450˚F.

Brush the dough pieces lightly with milk. Bake until golden, 10 – 15 minutes. Serve with gravy.

Sausage Gravy

3 Tbs. grapeseed oil
1 lb. ground sausage meat
Salt, black pepper and aleppo pepper, to taste
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3 – 4 cups milk, depending on pan size
Minced sage and thyme to taste, optional

Warm the oil in a cast-iron or other heavy-bottomed frying pan over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon to break up the meat, until cooked through, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt, black pepper and Aleppo pepper. Reduce the heat to medium-low, add the flour and cook, stirring, until the the sausage is lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Increase the heat to medium-high. Gradually add the milk and cook, stirring, until thickened, about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasonings, adding fresh herbs if you like.

Watch the videos for a cooking how-to: