Monkey (ginger) Bread

(Not the greatest picture, but believe me! It was so delicious! Perfect Christmas breakfast!)

Monkey (Ginger) Bread

From Food52.com

Serves 8

* 1 packet active dry yeast

* pinch sugar

* 1/3 cup warm water (110 degrees)

* 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

* 1 cup whole milk

* 1/4 cup molasses

* 3 1/4 cups all purpose flour

* 2 teaspoons kosher salt

* 2 teaspoons ground ginger

* 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

* 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

* 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

* 1/4 cup all purpose flour (if needed)

* 2 tablespoons butter, softened

* 1 stick butter, melted

* 1 cup packed dark brown sugar

1. In a small bowl, combine yeast and a pinch of sugar with the warm water. Set aside to sit for 10 minutes, until foamy.

2. In a small saucepan, combine 2 tablespoons butter, milk, and molasses and heat until the butter is melted. Set aside to cool briefly.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine flour, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg with a whisk or spoon.

4. Attach the dough hook and turn the mixer to low speed. Slowly add the molasses mixture and then the yeast mixture. After the dough comes together mix for 7 minutes, or until smooth. The dough will be sticky (it should stick to the bottom of the bowl), but if it seems too wet add up to 1/4 cup additional flour, one tablespoon at a time.

5. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead by hand for an additional minute to form a smooth ball. Lightly oil a large bowl. Place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat in oil. Cover with plastic wrap and put it in a warm spot to rise until doubled in size, about 1 to 1.5 hours.

6. Butter the bundt pan with 2 tablespoons softened butter. Put the melted stick of butter in one small bowl, and the brown sugar in another.

7. When the dough has risen, transfer to a lightly floured surface and gently pat into an 8-inch square. Cut dough into 64 pieces and roll the pieces into balls. One at a time, dip the balls in butter, then roll in brown sugar, and place in the bundt pan, making all attempts to distribute the balls evenly.

8. Cover the bundt pan with plastic wrap, place in a warm spot, and allow to rise for 1 more hour. (Or you could be a gambler and refrigerate the dough overnight, and then let it come to room temperature in the morning just before baking for breakfast). The balls should be puffy and about an inch below the top of the pan.

9. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the monkey bread for 30-35 minutes, until the top is golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool in pan for 5 minutes (but no longer!). Invert onto a cake stand and cool for another 5-10 minutes. Devour!

Variation:

You can get this ready in the evening and bake it in the morning, either by leaving it out in a cool room overnight for the second rise, or completing steps 1-7 as written the night before, covering the bundt pan with with plastic wrap, and putting it in the fridge overnight. Take it out of the fridge in the morning and let it sit for an hour (it should rise just a bit more) and then baked, following the directions in step 9.

ReNee's Salsa

It is named this because I couldn't come up with anything more creative.
OK, you have to be somewhat of a cook to do this. I once had a chef say to me "A real cook doesn't use measurements. You know a dash of this a pinch of that and taste it and if it needs a little of this or that then add it."
So here goes.

Take some tomatoes I use about 6, Roma's are the best but others will do.
Add about 3 green onions, if you don't have green onions then use what you have (red onions are good).
Put in some Cilantro, I clip some of the bunch that I get at the produce and add more if I need to.
Add Lime juice to taste,
Add salt (be careful you don't want to add too much)
A little garlic powder or garlic salt (I have even used fresh on occasion)
Put all of this through a Chopper of some kind. I got one from my daughter, Cheryl, and it works really good, before that I use a blender but you have to be careful that you don't turn it into a drink). The chopper is better.
I add a little Tabasco to spice it up sometimes, and Habanero sauce, I understand is good, but it is too Hot for me. So there you go. Grab some chips or make some (if you don't know how let me know and I will add that recipe.) Take care and have fun!

Sausage Cheese Balls

These are so good. I made 10 batches of these for a two day music performance. Everyone raved about them. Then I made a batch to take on the road when we went on a family vacation. They have been a favorite at parties for years. So try them and let me know what you think.

1-1/2 cup Quick Mix (Bisquick) 1 lb. lean ground pork Sausage
1 lb. grated Cheddar Cheese

Preheat oven to 350 F . combine ingredients until dough sticks together. roll into 1-1/21 inch balls. Bake for about 25 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Serve warm on toothpicks. Makes about 75 appetizers.

Note: You can half the recipe for a small gathering

Quick Mix

Sometimes we have the ingredients to something we use a lot but we don't have the easy boxed thing. I know it doesn't make much sense but...... Remember when you would get up and make pancakes out of Bisquick for Sunday breakfast or Baking Powder Biscuits to go with eggs hash browns and sausage. Well, here is the stuff Bisquick is made out of. You can make your own you know.

8-1/2 cups flour 1 teaspoon baking soda
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder 1-1/2 cups instant nonfat dry milk
1Tablespoon salt 2-1/4 cups vegetable shortening
2 Tablespoons cream of tarter

In large bowl, sift together all dry ingredients. Blend well. With pastry blender, Cut in shortening until evenly distributed. Mixture will resemble cornmeal in texture. Put in a large airtight container, Label. Store in a cool, dry place. Use within 10 to 12 weeks Makes about 13 cups of Quick Mix.

Beef Stroganoff (Crock Pot Style)

We all know how much I love my crock pot, right? It's coming in especially handy late in this pregnancy. Easy peasy meals coming from my kitchen!

Another one of my favorite things is Beef Stroganoff. And this recipe couldn't be easier!

Beef Stroganoff

1 lb beef stew meat
2 cans Cream of Mushroom Soup (I used reduced fat and couldn't even tell the difference!)
2 cubes of beef bullion
1/2 cup sour cream

Directions:
Dump it all in the crock pot. Cook on low for 6-8 hours (the longer it cooks, the more tender the meat will be). Serve over egg noodles.

Chocolate Cupcake

½ cup cocoa
1 cup hot water
1 2/3 cups Flour
1 ½ cups sugar
½ tsp. baking powder
1tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
½ cup soft shortening
2 eggs

Heat oven to 400. Line 24 medium muffin cups with paper baking cups. Mix cocoa and water until smooth. Cool. Blend flour, sugar, baking powder, soda and salt. Add shortening and cocoa mixture. Beat 2 min. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl add eggs and beat 2 more min., Pour int baking cups (1/2 full
Bake 15 to 20 min. Makes 24 Cupcakes.

Sour-cream Biscuits

This is a twist on Baking powder Biscuits that you will want to try. They are so good you will want to make them every day.
Biscuits and gravy are one of my husbands favorite breakfast and these make it so much better.


Preheat oven to 450.
2 cups sifted flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup shortening
1 cup dairy sour cream

Sift all dry ingredients together in medium bowl. Cut in shortening with a fork or pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.
Add sour cream stirring only until mixture is moistened
Turn out dough onto lightly floured surface knead about 10 minutes to farm a smooth dough
Gently roll out dough from center to ¾ inch thickness.
With floured 2 ½ inch biscuit cutter (I sometimes use a glass dipped in flour), cut straight down int0 dough being careful not to twist cutter
Place on ungreased cookie sheet bake 10 to 12 minutes. Serve hot

Streusel Coffeecake

Ok this is the coffeecake that I use to make for my family when I felt like something sweet for breakfast. A nice tall glass of ice cold milk and this hits the spot. Enjoy

Ingredients
Batter:
1 ½ cups flour
1/3 cup butter or margarine (melted
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ cup milk
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
¾ cup sugar

Streusel layer:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons soft butter or margarine
½ cup coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)
2 tablespoons flour

Preheat oven to 375F. Grease an 8x8x2 inch pan
Make streusel layer in a small bowl: combine all ingredients; mix with a fork until crumbly.
Make batter. Add all dry ingredients, set aside. In medium bowl with beater beat egg sugar and butter together until well combined. Add the dry ingredients a little at a time while mixing on low speed.
Pour half of the batter into pan then put half of the streusel in evenly on top add other half of batter then the rest of the streusel layer.
Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until tooth pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool partially, in pan, on wire rack. Serve warm

Tarrogon Pork Chops

Tarragon Pork Chops
OK my mother use to make these pork chops that were so, so good, we would lick the plate clean and the pan and the utensils and anything else that had the gravy on it. They were just that good. That said, I finally asked her for the recipe and this is what she gave me. So have fun with this one.
Pork chops (enough to feed everyone )
Salt and Pepper
2 Tbls Dijon Mustard
1/2 tsp Tarragon
1½ Tablespoon Butter
1 can ChickenBroth
8oz. whipping cream
Corn starch
After you cook the pork shops in the butter for awhile you add the rest of the ingredients. She said to add it to your taste and the desired thickness of the gravy. So there you have it the trade mark of a true cook is one that does not know the exact measurements to any of the recipes they make.

Homemade Pizza Crust!

No pictures for this one either...I'm a slacker!

HOMEMADE PIZZA CRUST

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. basil

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. parmesan cheese

1 Tbsp. sugar

2 c. flour

2/3 c. warm water

1 Tbsp. yeast

Preparation:

• Mix 1 c. flour with all ingredients
• Gradually add 2nd cup of flour until it forms a ball.
• knead dough
• Let dough rise 10-15 minutes
• Bake at about 450 for 15-20 minutes

This makes about a 14" pizza. We had to make 2 for the 5 of us and Boston.

This is also a good recipe to splurge on...get some really good specialty cheese and meat from Harmons (or Cari...I guess wherever you can find them.) and have fun with it! We made it with some delicious mozzerella, asiago, and parmesan rigiano foud at the cheese island by the deli in Harmons and we topped it with some Boar's Head pepporoni! YUMMY!

Pei Wei Mongolian Beef!

Sorry I totally forgot to take a picture...

PEI WEI MONGOLIAN BEEF

2 tsp. vegetable oil

1/2 tsp. ginger, minced

1 Tbsp. garlic, chopped

1/2 c. soy sauce

1/2 c. water

3/4 c. dark brown sugar

1 c. vegetable oil

1 lb. flank steak

1/4 c. cornstarch

2 large green onions

Preparation:

• Make the sauce by heating 2 tsp. of vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over med/low heat. Don't let the oil get too hot. Add ginger and garlic to the pan and quickly add the soy sauce and water before the garlic scorches. Dissolve the brown sugar in the sauce, then raise the heat to about medium and boil the sauce for 2-3 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Remove it from the heat.
• Slice the flank steak against the grain into 1/8" thick slices. Dip the steak pieces into the cornstarch to apply a very thin dusting to both sides of each piece of beef. Let the beef sit for about 10 minutes so that hte cornstarch sticks.
• As the beef sits, heat up one cup of oil in a wok (you can also use a skillet for this step as long as the beef will be mostly covered with oil). Heat the oil over medium heat until it's nice and hot, but not smoking. Add the beef to the oil and saute for just two minutes, or until the beef just begins to darken on the edges. You don't need to thoroughly cooking here since the beef is going to go back on the heat later. Stir the meat around a little so that it cooks evenly.
• After a couple minutes, use a large slotted spoon to take the meat out and onto paper towels, then pour the oil out of the wok or skillet. Put pan back over the heat, dump the meat back in and let it simmer for about a minute. Add the sauce, cook for one minute while stirring, then add all the green onions. Cook for one more minute.

Serve over rice or noodles..Makes enough to feed 4-5 people. (depending on how much everyone eats...)

I added zuccini, snow peas, and celery to mine and it was DELICIOUS! Seriously it was so good!

Chicken Wings

My girls use to love to put the sauce over rice. I have also made it with drumsticks and it taste just as good.

½ tsp salt
¼ Cup Soy Sauce
6oz can frozen orange juice concentrate
2 Tbls sugar
2 tsp ginger
1 Tbls lemon juice
1/8 tsp garlic powder
2 ½ lb wings (I sometimes use breasts and cut them up)

Mix the first 7 ingredients together and pour over chicken that has been placed in a 9x13 cake pan.
Bake @ 350 for 1 hour.

Chocolate Gnache and Airhead Roses.

Chocolate Gnache

8 oz. Heavy Cream
9 oz. chocolate (1 1/2 c.)
Heat the heavy cream on med-high until right before simmer.
Take off heat and add chocolate.
Set aside and cover for about 5 minutes.
Whisk until smooth.
...and you're done! How easy is that?

Airhead Roses! These are SO much fun to make and they look really impressive when you're done. One airhead makes one rose.

Low-Fat Delicious Salad

I don't have a picture - my salad was nearly completely consumed when I decided to share this "recipe" with you all. I know we're all trying to lose weight right now so I thought I'd throw this out there.

I estimate it to be around 200 calories - but that depends on how much cheese you put on it *winky*

• 2-3 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts* (about 120 calories per serving)
• 1 can Mexican-flavored diced tomatoes (about 30 calories per serving)
• Hearts of romaine (15 calories per serving)
  
• 1 can of sliced olives (25 calories per serving)
• Cheese - your favorite kind, and however much you feel you need. (calories vary)
  

*I buy the individually frozen chicken breasts at Winco and plop them into the ol'crockpot while they're still frozen. They cook up beautifully.

Place the chicken breasts and the tomatoes into a crockpot and cook on low for about 4 hours (at least that's how long it took in my crockpot). Using two forks, shred the chicken and then let it cook for about another 1/2 hour to soak back in all the juices.

Place a handful or two of your chopped romaine lettuce onto a plate, give it a big, heaping spoonful of the shredded chicken, about a spoonful (or more) of olives, and top with some cheese.

This salad was SO GOOD. And with all the juice from the tomatoes/chicken, you don't even need any fatty dressing.

You could cook up some shredded chicken and keep it in your refrigerator and have this salad for lunch every day of the week. I think that's what I'll do.

Taco-Joe's

Here's a simple family meal for ya. I got the recipe from a can of Campbell's Tomato Soup. We have made it several times and it's delicious. I can almost guarantee you'll have all the ingredients on hand too! SO SIMPLE!

Taco Joe's:

1 Can tomato soup
1 Cup salsa
1 lb hamburger

Directions:
Crumble and brown the hamburger in a large skillet. When it is fully cooked, drain the grease. Add in the can of soup and the cup of salsa. Stir it all in and serve it on a bun.

Yep. It really is that easy! And tasty too! We have also tried it with peach/mango salsa. Yum. And we have served it on rice instead of buns. That's really good too.