Sexy Savory Monkey Bread

 Are you intimidated by bread making?  Do I sound like an infomercial?

Making bread is so easy!  No, seriously.  Don't "Pffft" me and leave!  Where do you get that attitude?  I have been nothing but nice to you baking you all of these sweets lately and I bring up the subject of baking bread and you skip on out of here like you're incapable of it.

Oh, you're still here?  Oh, good!  You're a smart cookie.

Sexy Savory Monkey Bread
Yield: 10 servings

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Ingredients for the Dough:

• 3 cups luke warm water
• 1 1/2 T. granulated yeast or instant, rapid rise, bread machine, active dry or cake yeast
• 1 1/2 T. kosher salt
• 6 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour - I use King Arthur

Ingredients for Egg Wash:

• 2 large eggs
• 3 Tbsp. parlsey
• 1 1/2 t. garlic powder
• 1/4 t. salt
• 5 T. butter, melted
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Instructions for Dough:

1. In your mixer, dump in the water, yeast, salt and 6 1/2 cups flour and mix until it starts to come away from the sides.
2. Place saran wrap or a towel over the top and place someplace warm and let it rise for about 2 hours.

Instructions for Bread:

1. Grease a 10 inch Bundt pan or tube pan.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the parsley, garlic powder, salt, butter and eggs until well blended. Break the bread dough off in walnut-sized pieces and roll into a ball. Dip each piece into the egg mixture.
3. Place coated dough balls into the prepared pan. Once there is a layer of balls covering the bottom of the pan, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Repeat, sprinkling each layer with cheese until everything is in the pan. Cover loosely, and let rise until doubled in size, about 45 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
4. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

Cooks Note:  You may have noticed I used pepperoni and mozzarella cheese in the above pictures. I don't suggest it. It didn't make a difference flavor wise and why add the extra calories if there's no difference!

I suggest you place a cookie sheet on the rack below the bread to catch any overflow.

Adapted from Allrecipes.com and Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

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Servings: 1 slice

Calories:  384

Total Fat:  9.0 g

Cholesterol:  62 mg.

Sodium:  1239 mg.

Protein:  11.7g.

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French Onion Steaks

Do you live in the moment-to-moment or do you find yourself "zapping" from one destination to the next without recalling the drive to get there?  Do you feel as if you are losing yourself?  There are days I go through the day and crawl into bed and realize I hadn't stopped to smell the rosemary's.  Lately, I have told myself to take a moment and look around my world.  Get out of my bubble I put myself in and notice the daddy holding his baby on his way out of the grocery store and smothering him with kisses.  Notice the smile this puts on the babies face as his big blue eyes light up with the satisfaction that only the human touch can give.  The girl standing in line at Bread Co. waiting to order and the Grateful Dead hobo bag she has thrown over her shoulder.  Taking note of the Grateful Dead music that is playing in the restaurant I am dining in with great friends.  Kisses stolen from the young couple in the car in front of me while sitting at the red light.  The older couple walking hand in hand through the park.

The smile a peanut butter and jelly brings my 12 year old son as he loses himself and gives me that occasional look I remember from when he was younger and not trying so hard to be "cool".  The way my 10 year old daughter runs around on all fours because she's trying to "perfect" her wolverine run.  Yes, she watches Animal Planet and happened to catch the show on wolverines and they described in detail the exact way they run so she has taken to run around like a wolverine.  This is very disturbing when we have house guests and they catch her running 20 miles per hour past them on all fours.  It's quite the sight.  The smiles a warm and hearty meal puts on my families face on stormy dark night when I serve them these French Onion Steaks.  Take a moment for yourself and take a look around at "everyday" life and the love and enthusiasm that our world is filled with.  If you're feeling lonely know that you only need to look around and realize that there are people all around you and there is no need to feel lonely.  Participate in life, go out and talk to people and smile at someone today.  You may change someones life just because you put on your smile!

French Onion Steaks
Yield: 4 servings

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Ingredients for the Steak:

• 1 1/4 lb. ground beef
• 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
• 2 T. minced scallions
• 1 t. kosher salt
• 1/2 t. black pepper
• 2 T. all-purpose unbleached flour

Ingredients for the Sauce:

• 1 T. olive oil
• 2 cups sliced onions
• 1 t. sugar
• 1 T. minced garlic
• 1 T. tomato paste
• 2 cups low-sodium beef broth
• 1/4 cup dry red wine
• 1/4 t. kosher salt
• 1/2 t. dried thyme
• Cheese toasts - recipe below
• Minced fresh parsley
• Shredded Parmesan

For the Cheese Toasts:

• 4 slices Italian baguette, cut diagonally (1/2-inch thick)
• 2 T. unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 t. minced garlic
• Pinch of paprika
• 1/4 cup shredded Swiss cheese1 t. shredded Parmesan

Instructions for the Steaks:

1. Combine ground chuck, 1/4 cup parley, scallions, salt and pepper. Divide evenly into four portions and shape each into 1/4 to 1- inch thick oval patties. Place 2 Tbsp. flour in a shallow dish, dredge each patty in flour. Reserve 1 tsp. flour.
2. Heat oil in a saute pan over medium-high. Add patties and saute about 2 minutes on each side, or until browned. Remove from pan.
3. Add onions and sugar to pan; saute 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and tomato paste; saute until paste begins to brown, about 1 minutes. Sprinkle mixture with reserved flour; cook 1 minute. Stir in broth, wine, salt, and thyme.
4. Return meat to pan; bring sauce to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer 10 minutes.
5. Serve steaks on cheese toasts with onion sauce ladled over. Garnish with parsley and Parmesan.

Instructions for the Cheese Toasts:

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Place bread on a baking sheet.
3. Combine butter, garlic, and paprika, spread on one side of each slice of bread. Combine cheeses and sprinkle evenly over butter. Bake until bread is crisp and cheese is bubbly, 10 - 15 minutes.

Adapted from Cuisine at home

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Servings: 1

Calories:  623

Total Fat:  23.5 g

Cholesterol:  148 mg.

Sodium:  1543 mg.

Protein:  54.9 g.

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Summer Time!

Mothership Wit - Organic Wheat Beer Brewed with Spices.  If you haven't tried this, you are seriously missing out my friend!

Ah, I just love summer time!  I love the intense heat of the days and the way it lingers around in the evening.  I just can't get enough of it!  I am a sun goddess at her best!  Long drives in the jeep with the top off, sitting on the back porch with a 6-pack of yummy goodness, bbq's with friends, pool time... I will find any way to worship the sun.

Sunday Night Dinner

I love a lazy Sunday.  Tinker around in the kitchen, lay on the couch, blog, blog, read blogs, take pictures of your food that you created while tinkering.  You get the picture.  Breakfast was outstanding (even though I wasn't finished with it until 11:00)!  Then came Sunday night dinner.  I have had this one of the menu all week and I decided that it would make a good Sunday night dinner.

Chili Pork Tenderloin
Yield: 6 servings

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Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 Tbsp. chipotle chili powder
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• Juice of 1 lime
• 2 pork tenderloins, trimmed (about 1 lb. each) 

Instructions:

1. I made mine in my rotisserie but you can also grill it.  If you are grilling it, preheat your grill to medium-high.  Brush grate with oil.
2. Combine honey, chipotle chili powder, salt, and lime juice in a large resealable plastic bag.
3. Add tenderloin to bag and marinate 10-15 minutes. 
4. If you are preparing this in your rotisserie, just spear the tenderloins on to the spears and pop in your rotisserie for about an hour or until the internal temperature is 150.  If you are grilling - grill pork, covered, flipping and basting with marinade until cooked to an internal temperature of 150, 15-20 minutes.  Remove pork from grill, tent with foil, and let rest 10 minutes before slicing into 1 1/2-inch thick pieces.

Per Serving: Cal 232; Total Fat 8g; Chol 100mg; Sodium 408mg; Protein 31g

Source: Cuisine Lite

Potato and Green Bean Salad with Creamy Cucumber Dressing
Yield: 4 servings

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Ingredients for the Salad:

• 1 lb. red potatoes, quartered
• 4 oz. green beans, trimmed (I used frozen)

Ingredients for the Dressing:

• 3/4 cup seeded, finely chopped cucumber
• 2 Tbsp. mayonnaise
• 2 Tbsp. plain yogurt
• 1 Tbsp. minced fresh tarragon
• 1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
• Juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 1/2 tsp. each kosher salt and black pepper

Instructions:

1. Boil potatoes in water, 12 minutes.  Add beans, cook 3 minutes; drain.
2. Whisk together mayonnaise, yogurt, tarragon, scallions, Dijon, lemon juice, salt, and pepper for the dressing; add cucumber.
3. Toss dressing with potatoes, beans and eggs.  Serve warm or cold.
4. Feel free to add 2 hard boiled eggs to this dish.  The original recipe called for it but I didn't see that until it was too late.  Also, if you would like to add 2 minced scallions to the dressing, go for it!

Per Serving: Cal 203; Total Fat 10g; Chol 109mg; Sodium 329mg; Protein 6g


Adapted from : Cuisine Lite

I also made Garlic Knots because they are so out of this freaking world savory!  I had left-over Artisan Bread dough and decided to tie some up into knots, let them rest for about 40 minutes.

Melt some butter and add minced garlic, stir it up, brush it on to your knots, sprinkle with dried rosemary and freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Pop in the oven for about 30 minutes on 350.

~ Enjoy!

Saint Patricks Day "Celebration" Menu

St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner.  We like to celebrate with our parents.  About the word "celebrate", we don't necessarily celebrate the holiday, we just like to eat and prepare the Irish food and drink their Guinness.  I'm pretty sure Donovan's family has no Irish in them but I have a teeny tiny bit, hell, I'm not even sure it's enough to claim. Nevertheless, we get together and nobody can stop us, not even Saint Patrick himself.  Who does he think he is anyway?  I'll tell you what, he didn't convert me to religion but he certainly converted me to drinking his Irish beer.  You know something, he's not even Irish!  He's from Britain.  His story is very interesting.  For those of you who are interested, check out Wiki.

I found this post in my archives and thought I would dig it out, add a few more recipe's to it and share it with you...again.  It's a mouthwatering, good smelling meal.  What I'm trying to say is that you will use all of your senses throughout this "celebration" meal.  You should try it for yourself and you will find that I'm telling you the truth.

Garlic Knots

Friday evening a storm was brewing.  The wind started to pick up and the temperature was quickly dropping to frigid.  The thunder was rumbling in the distance and gradually rolling in closer by the minute.  I was at my laptop, watching the radar and wondering what I was going to make up for dinner.  I started pursuing food blogs in search of some inspiration and I happened across Annie's Eats.  Her blog is fairly new to me and I was poking around and was suddenly inspired by her Soft Garlic Knots post.

A is for Artisan Bread

I LOVE bread!  Lately, I have been on a bread baking kick (see my Bagels post).  For Christmas my mom got me the recipe book “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day”  I always have dough in the refrigerator.  Let me share with you the recipe: