Monkey Bread

Hey, hey, we're the Monkees, People say we like to monkey around...

Every Christmas morning, my family makes monkey bread. It’s such a decadent (read: mucho calories!) treat that once a year is enough. This year we mixed things up by going up to my grandmother’s in North Georgia. We usually spend Thanksgiving there, but hadn’t spent a Christmas there in thirty-some years.   

It was cold and wonderful, and somehow in all the festivities, we failed to make monkey bread Christmas morning!

Since I’m the biggest fan of monkey bread, the biscuits were sent back with me. I woke up today to a windy 20 degree morning, and knew before I got out of bed that it was a monkey bread morning.

Since it’s just me, I cut the recipe down to one can of biscuits. It’s okay to eat one can in a day right?!

Monkey Bread

1 can jumbo, buttermilk biscuits (I’ve also made my own biscuit dough and used it in before to excellent results)

½ cup white sugar

2 tsp cinnamon (I like a lot of cinnamon)

6 Tablespoons of butter or margarine

¼ cup brown sugar

1.      Open up the biscuits and revel in that “POP!”
2.      Cut each biscuit into quarters.
3.      Mix the white sugar and cinnamon in a bag or jar.
4.      Add the biscuit quarters to the sugar mixture and shake, shake, shake your biscuits!
5.      Once the biscuits are covered, take out and put them in a loaf pan, ramekin, or small Bundt pan. I used one mini loaf pan and two ramekins. Tetris skills come in handy here. 
6.      In a pan over medium heat, melt the butter and add the brown sugar. Stir until the sugar dissolves and the mixture becomes one, mostly uniform, golden color.
7.      Pour the butter mixture over the biscuits.
8.      Put in a 340 degree oven for 30-40 minutes. I used my toaster oven and it took about 50 minutes. To check, stick a toothpick in the middle and check for doughiness.
9.      Allow to cool slightly. Run a knife around the sides and dump out on a plate, giving it some love taps if necessary.
10.    Use fingers to pull off crunchy tops and flakey middles. Dip finger in the gooey butter mix on the bottom and lick off.
    
    
    

Züpfe - Swiss Bread

Last night I got together with some lovely friends for a light dinner party. The hostess made a delicious cold soup that had us guessing as to the main ingredient (it was GRAPES!). My contribution was bread and as one friend said "she made it from scratch!" In one of those lovely coincidences, I had been talking with a Swiss expat friend and bread came up and he told me how he likes to make this traditional Swiss bread. Now this was rather unexpected from my bachelor guy friend, but we made a deal: if he figured out how to translate the recipe to English, I would make. So on Thursday, a recipe appeared in my inbox. I strayed quite a bit from it and was a bit worried. It smelled delicious baking, then cutting into it...it looked fine, was done inside, then biting into it...it was delicious! Very yeasty and dense but not heavy. Sigh of relief - success.

1/2 kg bread flour

4 Tbsp butter, melted

1 cup almond milk

1/2 Tbsp dried yeast

½ tsp sugar

2-3 tsp salt

1) Pour the flour into a large bowl, mixing out any lumps. Make a hollow in the center.

2) Dissolve yeast in cold milk, add sugar and salt.

3) Add milk mixture and melted butter to the flour. Mix in well and knead until it comes together. Continuing kneading for about two minutes.

4) Cover with cloth, leave to rest for one hour in a warm place. (This I did, and then popped it in the refrigerator overnight.)

5) When ready to bake, divide into two pieces and roll into snake-like strands. Make an X with the strands, folding the top two down to have four strands. Braid together. (Google reveals some lovely picture diagrams for this. I used my new-found knowledge of four-piece braiding learned through countless hours of Pinterest perusal.

     

Savory Spinach and Cheese Bread Pudding

Savory bread pudding? Is this possible? Edible? Wh-at?



I was thumbing through my co-worker's Mediterranean Harvest cookbook by Martha Rose Shulman and saw Savory Bread Pudding. Honestly, I had been thinking I needed to do something with all the bread piling up in my refrigerator. I'm not a big bread eater, but somehow I've been getting a lot lately. After a day or two I pop it in the frig because my kitchen gets a lot of sun and tends to warm up during the day, especially in the hot days we've been having down here in Georgia.

How weird it must look to people who come over and open up the frig for a glass of water or wine and are greeted by half full bags of bagels and breads sticking out from every shelf! Throwing it away would be the normal thing, but that seems wasteful to me, so I was very happy to have just the recipe for not so fresh bread.

I used a combination of crusty French bread, challah, seseme seed bagels, and whole-wheat bagels.



Strata
*adapted from Mediterranean Harvest

1/4 pound stale bread, sliced into cubes about 1/2 inch thick
1 garlic clove
grated cheese, about 1/4 cup or more
1/4 cup frozen chopped spinach (could use fresh)
2 eggs
1 cup of milk
salt and pepper (black and cayenne)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.



2. Dice garlic and add to cubed bread. Layer half in a baking dish, add cheese and spinach, and then other half of bread.



3. Beat eggs and milk until mixed well. Add about 1/4 tsp salt and pepper to taste.



4. Bake 40 minutes until puffed and browned

Can be served hot or cold. It was delicious at room temperature served with a fresh green salad.

twd ~ Date Nut Loaf

Calling this a loaf makes it sound like bread. But as my friend said after taking a bite, "Hey, this is like cake!"

It's cake dressed up like bread. It has lovely walnuts and dates that take the stage, and lots of butter and cream cheese hiding in between. I'm now thinking of making muffins out of this batter and putting cream cheese icing on top for cupcakes.



I stuck to Dorie's recipe this time completely! I didn't have the correct size loaf pan, so I made a regular and a mini loaf. The mini was done in the specified time, however, the larger one took another half an hour. It made me a little nervous because that's a long time over, but it turned out a lovely golden brown and very moist.



Check out all the lovely walnuts and dates! The walnuts are definitely the best part for me. Thanks to Mary of Popsicles and Sandy Feet for a great pick this week!

twd ~ Oatmeal Nutmeg Scones & Maple Cornmeal Biscuits

I'm so excited for this weekend. Not only is it long weekend (yay federal holidays!) but I will get to bake up Oatmeal Nutmeg Scones and Maple Cornmeal Biscuits for one of my good friend's baby shower! This is the first baby shower I've ever helped host, and I'm both nervous, feeling like I'm forgetting something, and excited because I know it's going to be a fabulous time!

We decided on brunch for the menu. So in addition to the scones and biscuits, there will be grits, egg & artichoke pie, home-style potatoes, fruit, mimosas, and muffins.

Both the scones and the biscuits were super easy to mix up. I was pleasantly surprised. They are currently sitting in my freezer, awaiting the big day. Hopefully they'll bake up wonderfully light and delish!

Homemade Bread Take 1: Simple Oatmeal Bread

The other weekend I put in a few hours at an annual fundraiser sale put on by my Junior League. I noticed a West Bend bread machine that no one had picked up. By the end of the day, it was still there - and discounted 75%. Well, that sealed the deal. I took it home for $2.50.

A woman who works next door let me borrow her book. This is my first attempt. I didn't use bread flour, which has more protein and gluten, just regular ol' all-purpose flour and I think the taste will improve a lot with bread flour. It was still good, especially toasted with a nice slathering of butter.



Simple Oatmeal Bread, adapted from Bread Machine Baking by Lora Brody & Millie Apter

2/3 water
2 teaspoons butter
2 teaspoons molasses
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 old-fashoined oats
1 1/2 white flour
1 1/2 teaspoons yeast

twd ~ Double Apple Cake

After a long, hot summer, Mother Nature has completely skipped fall and flung us straight into winter. Oh, fall - come back!

Hopefully this week's pick by Lynne of Honey Muffin will help. It's full of autumn flavors - apples, cinnamon, and ginger. It smelled delicious baking! I didn't have enough apple butter so I added some applesauce and yogurt. I omitted the nuts simply because I didn't have any, and wasn't feeling raisins. I don't have a bundt pan, so I halved the recipe and baked it in a loaf pan.

It's quite good, and super dense and moist. I think it'll be nice toasted with a little butter. I actually displayed some willpower and waited until the next day to dig in, as Dorie suggested, to let the flavors ripen. It seems to be missing a little something though. Maybe it's the nuts I left out.

twd ~ Coffee Break Muffins

Caffeine! That is definitely the theme of these little muffins. They may not look like much, but they pack a poweful punch!

Expresso powder and a cup of coffee makes these very appropriate for crazy mornings when you have just enough energy to get out of bed and then have to rush to get ready. I personaly prefer muffins with lots of goodies in them - oats and nuts and fruit - so I may not make these again, but they were very good.

twd ~ Oatmeal Breakfast Bread

Natalie of Oven Love picked Oatmeal Breakfast Bread for this week's TWD.



I knew I was going to love this. I love oatty things, and this one has raisins and cinnamon and a lovely brown sugar topping. Breakfast breads with toppings are just better. My favorite is one that has coconut, butter, and sugar for banana bread. They need to start making bread tops, and add them to the pastry cases right beside the muffin tops.



This bread is quite dense and uses applesauce in the batter. It’s quite good. If you need evidence, I baked it for a work celebration honoring two of our employees that have been with us for 10 years, and all that remained afterwards were a few crumbs. 10 years...wow!

twd ~ Coconut Vanilla Rum Cakes

Back in 2002, I went on a cruise. I was fresh out of undergrad and looking for a little vaca with my then-boyfriend. Oh yes, slightly scandalous, at least to my mom with whom I was living at the time. I was one of those, graduate and go back home until grad school. But my wonderful mom welcomed me home, and we had a lovely cruise to Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.

It was a great trip. The towel animals were cute, the casino was fun, the island trips were cool, and the Jamaican rum cakes...omg. Out of this world! I think we bought a dozen just to eat on the boat. I'm sure I ate one whole cake in one sitting at least once. I loved them!

When I saw Wendy of Pink Stripes pick for this week, my first reaction was...oh, sounds fussy. Then I read the recipe. Oh, it's like the Jamaican rum cakes! My favorite was the coconut, so I decided to try to recreate it.

I subbed coconut rum for regular, quartered the recipe, and used coconut cream instead of regular cream. I tried a little of the pound cake pre-soaking with the rum syrup, and it was delicious. Soaked, omg, it was magical and took me back to a warm, sunny afternoon, on the rocky beaches of Montego Bay.

twd ~ Raisin Swirl Bread

I don't like to admit defeat in the kitchen. Each challenging recipe makes me feel like an Iron Chef contestant. But this week, for Tuesdays with Dorie, the Raisin Swirl Bread kicked my behind all across the kitchen floor and into next week's recipe.

This was my first yeast bread so I'd like to cut myself some slack. But really, I should have seen it coming. I think the first error was too little flour. I had a sticky dough, too sticky to form, too sticky to roll. So it ended up growing flat and sideways and being one slice thick period. Oh brother.



My saving grace was going to be the taste. I love raisin bread! I thought the orange zest annd cocoa would be great additions. Until I tried it. Dry, and tasteless except for the occassional raisin. This one totally got the better of me. But I will try again!

twd ~ Apple Apple Bread Pudding

Bread pudding is good. Many people think not, but if it's made right it's delicious! Made badly, it's soggy bread. Gross.

Armed with Dorie's Apple Apple Bread Pudding recipe, it wasn't difficult. It's not a quick recipe, because you have to let the custard soak into the bread, and then bake for over an hour. In the end, it was worth it. I think it could be a breakfast dish and dessert. I haven't yet tested out this theory, but there is a little left in the fridge so tomorrow morning will be a little sweeter.

I made one-third of the recipe, and used all 1% milk instead of whole milk and cream. It worked perfectly! Still very good and the proportions didn't seem thrown off by the reduction in servings as sometimes happens.

Thanks Elizabeth of Cake or Death? for a great pick this week!

twd ~ Sweet Cream Biscuits

I had no idea that biscuits didn't have to have butter or lard and could still taste so good!

I used half regular flour and half whole-wheat flour. I made the dough one night to freeze. My mom was coming for dinner the next night and I knew I wouldn't have time to make them after work. Dorie writes to make the biscuits and freeze them on a baking sheet before securing them in an airtight container. I popped them in the freezer on a baking sheet...and totally forgot about them! The next morning they surprised me, and they looked a little worse for the night - a little frosty. Given this little misadventure, I was a little worried how they would taste. But they were delicious! They came out being very crisp on the outside and doughy in the middle. I didn't roll and cut them, instead just roughly forming them into rounds. My mom and I both prefer rough biscuits. They aren't as pretty, but they have more crispy corners on top.

I would definitely make these again, although it won't replace a good buttermilk biscuit. It's a little too sweet for that. We had it with coconut curried carrot soup and salad and it was perfect. Thanks to Melissa of Love at First Bite for this week's pick!

twd ~ Coconut Tea Cake

After my mom's birthday this weekend, I'm all caked out. But I still had to make this one. It's coconut, and Dorie gave a "Playing Around" option to add spices. So I made it tonight before I went to kickboxing class, and had a piece when I got home.I'm planning on eating this as a breakfast loaf. I can't wait to try it with strawberries tomorrow morning. It is a bit dry and not too sweet, which is why I would never make it just as cake. Pecans would be a good addition. The top has a lovely golden crunch to it. I love the added black pepper, cardamom, ginger, and cinnamon. The spices aren't overwhelming as I thought they might be. The coconut milk still comes through in a subtle, addictive way. All in all, a great pick by Carmen of Carmen Cooks.

Happy 2010!!!

As per tradition, gotta have the greens and the black-eyed peas. Yes, I would like the economy to bounce back and the more greens you eat, the more greenbacks will come your way. The peas, as mere coins, aren't quite as important.


As what goes better with greens and black-eyed peas than cornbread and gravy?
Rosemary cornbread and curried gravy perhaps?


5-Spice Black-Eyed Peas

Sautee onions and garlic in a little oil
Add Chinese 5 Spice, salt, and pepper to taste
Add black-eyed peas and cook until tender
Add tomatoes at the end, and let cook for about five minutes

Curried Gravy

Brown flour in a heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly
Add salt, pepper, and curry powder to taste and brown until the flour is a nutty, medium brown
Add milk, stirring constantly to avoid lumps

Rosemary Cornbread

1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/6 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
fresh rosemary, about 1/8 cup

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and butter or line a muffin pan. This recipe made 5 cornbread muffins.
2. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. When the butter begins to brown, add the fresh rosemary. Continue cooking about 10 minutes until it turns a light brown and has a delicious, nutty aroma. Filter out the rosemary, but keep all the browned milk solids.
3. Whisk together the eggs and milk. Drizzle in the butter, whisking constantly to avoid cooking the eggs.
4. Whisk together the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
5. Combine the wet and dry ingredients and stir just enough to form a batter. It will have a few lumps, which is fine. Overbeating could make the cornbread tough.
6. Pour into the pan and bake about 25 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry.
7. Serve forth while still hot, with lots of good sweet butter. I stirred together some butter, honey, and cinnamon and slathered it on. Very good.

Whole Wheat Pancakes for One

I'm not a big pancake fan, but one morning I had a craving. There's a box of Aunt Jemima in the cabinet, but I wanted to try to make them somewhat 'healthy' (or "healthified" as an email I got said about some pumpkin cheesecake recipe - what a word). They were also quite tasty!

The recipe makes one serving of two large pancakes.

Whole Wheat Pancakes for One

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 Tbsp ground golden flax seed
2 pinches of salt
1/4 Tbsp baking powder
1/4 Tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 cup milk
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/8 cup chopped walnuts
oil or butter for pan

1. Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl until well combined.
2. Add vanilla to milk and mix.
3. Add milk mixture to dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
4. Fold in nuts.
5. Cook over medium.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Bread - from fresh pumpkins!

Instead of carving this year, we painted our pumpkins for Halloween. So instead of having a decaying mound of orange flesh, we had two lovely, plump pumpkins. I'd never cooked with fresh pumpkin before so I called my Granny for tips. She's used pumpkins to make pumpkin pie by peeling and boiling the meat. She suggested baking the pumpkins, skin-side up, on a baking tray. That's just what I did, at 375. We had two sizes of pumpkins - the smaller took one hour, the larger (jack-o-lantern size) took 1.5 hours until soft. Beware though - a LOT of pumpkin juice came out of these, over the baking sheet and into the bottom of the oven. Ah, time to see if that self-cleaning thing actually works!

After the pumpkin cooled I mashed it up. There was a lot - about 4 cups. One cup went into the pumpkin bread using a recipe Fanny Farmer recipe. It is hands-down the BEST pumpkin bread I've even eaten. My sister found the recipe a few years ago and now it's a family favorite. It's moist and flavorful without being too sweet.

I made three small loaves from one recipe. It hasn't lasted long! I believe there is just one small slice left...which I will make disappear very shortly...

Pumpkin Bread (adapted from a Fannie Farmer recipe)

1.5 cup flour

.5 tsp salt

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

1 cup pumpkin puree

.5 cup olive oil

2 eggs, beaten

.25 cup water

.25 tsp. nutmeg

.25 tsp. cinnamon

.25 tsp. allspice

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.
2. Combine flour, salt, sugar, and baking soda. Whisk.
3. Mix pumpkin puree, oil, eggs, .25 cup of water, and spices in a separate bowl.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry. Fold in ingredients until just combined. Do not mix thoroughly.
5. Pour into a well-buttered 9x5x3 loaf pan.
6. Bake 50-60 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
7. Cool on a rack and enjoy!