Monkeybread

Happy Monday!  Everyone have a good weekend?  We surely did.  And anybody see that Eagles vs. Giants game yesterday?  Purely awesome!  And that's why Philly is going to the Superbowl!  Well, I hope so anyway.

It's going to be a busy week because I'm making myself make a different baked good/treat every day and then by Friday/Saturday, I'll have a variety of treats to wrap up and gift!  I've got some lucky recipients! 

I should have known this by some of the comments on the Chocolate Chip Cookie post, but a Dessert Bread won the poll by a landslide!  You guys must love your breads! 

Lots of people talk about Monkeybread as a treat they remember from childhood or whatnot, but I don't think  I actually learned about it's existence until a few years ago.  So I figured, why not.  Let's tackle it.  I just had one minor setback.  No bundt pan, and I really didn't feel like going out to buy one.  But I also didn't want to change my dish.  So, my inner Macgyver devised the perfect vessel for my Monkeybread.  Basically, if you don't have a bundt pan, take a deep cake pan, or a spring form pan (this is what I used) and place a small heat proof bowl in the center (in my case, I used a ramekin), and voila!  Instant, ghetto, bundt pan!


Ingredients:
Adapted from Itsy Bitsy Foodies' Recipe

Bread Dough:



4 & 1/2 cups flour
4 & 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 cups warm water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt



Monkey Bread:


1 & 1/4 cups sugar, divided
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 & 3/4 teaspoons cinnamon, divided

This is actually the first recipe I've tried using yeast that didn't require "proofing" it first.  I was skeptical, at first, but everything panned out, so you have my assurance that this should work!

In a large bowl, mix 2 cups of the flour and the yeast.  Add the water, vegetable oil, sugar and salt.  With a hand mixer, beat on low for about a minute and then increase the speed and mix for a 2-3 more minutes.  Add in the remaining flour until you achieve a good, sturdy dough.  Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface, until it is smooth and elastic.  Grease a large, clean bowl and form the dough into a ball.  Place the dough ball into the bowl and cover with a damp cloth.  Let dough rise for 1 & 1/2 hours, or until doubled in size.  Punch the dough down and divide it into half, and let rest for and additional 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, to make the monkey bread "sauce", combine 1 cup sugar, brown sugar, milk, butter and 1 1/4 tsp cinnamon in a small saucepan over medium high heat.  Bring the mixture to a slow boil and cook it for about 1 minute, or until slightly thickened.  Remove from the heat and let it cool for 10 minutes.

Combine remaining 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 tsp cinnamon in a shallow bowl.  Pick small portions of dough and form into small balls, until you've used up all the dough.

Preheat oven to 350 F and grease a bundt pan (or use my alternate pan that I've described above!).

Roll each portion into the cinnamon sugar mixture and layer the balls of dough in your chosen pan.  Sprinkle any remaining cinnamon-sugar mixture over the layers.  Pour the cooled sugar syrup over the dough.  Cover the pan with a damp cloth and let it rise for 35 minutes or until doubled in size.

Bake the bread for about 25 minutes or until lightly browned.  Loosen the edges of bread from the pan using a knife.  Place a plate over the top of the pan and carefully invert the bread onto the plate (or you can just release the springform pan).

Serve while it's warm (it's better this way!) and with a scoop of ice cream (it's better this way too!).  I definitely liked this, if I make it again, I might be a little more gluttonous with the syrup and double it so the bread is extra gooey!  But the flavor is definitely there!

Hope you guys liked the bread recipe and hope to get some more treats posted this week (but I've got some good dinners planned too, so savory might win out over the sweet stuff!)  Have a good rest of your Monday!  Enjoy guys!

Coconut Almond Ice Cream

Happy Friday guys!  Definitely glad that the weekend is here!  I've got to work tomorrow night, but I have Sunday and Monday off, so it won't be too bad!  And no school work to think about, so hey, I'm in good spirits!

I was privileged enough to be a part of a Thanksgiving blogger compilation over at Guerrilla Gourmet.  They did a "cornucopia project" on how people from all 50 states celebrate Thanksgiving and I was lucky enough to represent Kentucky.  They didn't get posts from all 50 states, but they got 40 of them, so that's not half bad!  So hope you guys check out the post and see how different parts of the country celebrate the common tradition!

And, as promised, here's the almond recipe that tied with last week's poll!

Ingredients:

Adapted from a Bon Appetit recipe

Ice Cream

2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
1 cup whole milk
1 cup light brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1-3 teaspoons of almond extract (depending on how deep of a flavor you want!)
3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon coconut rum

Coconut Tortillas & Fruit Salsa

2 flour tortillas
1 cup sweetened coconut flakes
1/4 cup sugar, divided
1 egg white
1 mango, peeled and diced
5 large strawberries, diced

To make the ice cream, combine coconut milk, whole milk, brown sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan under medium heat.  Stir in desired amount of almond extract (a little goes a long way!) and bring to a simmer.  Stir until the brown sugar is dissolved.  Remove from heat and cover saucepan with aluminum foil.  Allow mixture to steep for about 30 minutes.

Whisk the egg yolks in a large bowl and slowly whisk in the coconut milk mixture.  Return the mixture to the saucepan and heat under medium heat until it reaches a temperature of about 160 F.  This took about 6-10 minutes for me.  Cool the mixture at room temperature for 1 hour.  It will resemble a custard.  Chill in the fridge for an additional 2 hours.

Slowly stir in coconut rum into custard mixture.  Process the custard in an ice cream machine for about 25-30 minutes.  Transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze for at least an hour.

In the meantime, you can start on the coconut chips and fruit salsa.  Preheat your oven to 375 F. 

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and cut each tortilla into 8 wedges.  Assemble onto parchment paper.

In a small food processor, combine coconut flakes and 1 teaspoon of sugar.  Pulse for about 30 seconds.

Beat the egg white in a small bowl until it is foamy.  Brush the egg white onto the tortillas and sprinkle with desired amount of coconut/sugar mixture.

Bake in oven until tortillas are crisp and golden, about 10-15 minutes.  Let cool until ready for use.

To make fruit salsa, combine mangoes and strawberries in medium bowl and sprinkle with a tablespoon or two of sugar.  Mix well.

Scoop ice cream into a bowl or, in my case, a margarita glass, and top with fruit salsa.  Place about 2 or 3 coconut tortilla chips in ice cream as well, and dig on in!

Although I didn't use actual almonds, the almond extract provided such a deep flavor to this ice cream, that it was definitely the star.  There were many textures in this dessert, and you would think one would overpower the other, but the crunch of the tortillas, the creaminess of the ice cream, and the sweet bites of fruit all worked together as one, shining together.  Who says you can't have ice cream in the winter time?  In the words of Andy... "ice cream is any time food.  breakfast, lunch, or dinner.  ice cream is good any time.' 

Hope you guys enjoy your weekend!

Lazy (Wo)Man's Ribs

You know the keyword is "lazy" here. Lazy doesn't imply sloppy or not good either. Lazy just means that this is little to no effort... and what kitchen gadget provides that little or no effort appeal? You guessed it... THE CROCKPOT! I don't think these recipes are going to stop either, so you better get used to bringing out that thing and enjoying the food that comes out of it! These ribs are truly so easy you won't even believe how great they turn out.

Ingredients:

About 8 or more Pork Short Ribs
1 Cup Brown Sugar
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/8 cup rice vinegar
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon garlic powder

Turn your crockpot on to the high setting.

Stack the short ribs in first. Then, one by one, just "dump" each of the above ingredients (and feel free to improvise, because that's exactly what I did here!) on top of the short ribs.

Once all the ingredients are in there, you can either use your hands and be primal with it, or take a spoon or tongs and just move the ribs around so that they're evenly coated with all the ingredients.

Then cover the crockpot and cook on the high setting for about 1 hour. Then switch to low and cook for about 8 hours, or at least 5.


Yeah... it was THAT easy. This was probably the best ribs I've made so far. The meat was tender and falling off the bone. There was a sweetness from the brown sugar and a savoriness from the rest of the spices. It was great and I hope you try this! Enjoy!