Savory Monkey Bread

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Monkey bread was popularized in the 1950's by James Beard. The first versions of this pull-apart bread were sweet affairs designed for breakfast or brunch. Given the nature of the bread, it was only a matter of time before aspiring chef's came up with a savory counterpart. While they never enjoyed the same popularity as their sweet cousins, they were the rage for a while and could routinely be found at cocktail and buffet parties. I hadn't made either bread for years, but I was up to my elbows in bread dough this weekend and decided to use some of it to make a savory bread for a soup and salad supper I had planned. It helped make the meal more special than it actually was. If you have time, and are looking for something to perk up a plain meal, you might want to give this a try. I made my bread dough, but a frozen commercial product would work nearly as well. I'm less enthusiastic about the use of tube biscuits that some folks use to make the bread. While, I've fashioned a recipe of sorts, it really reflects my flavor preferences.I hope you'll make the recipe your own by using the herbs and spices you most enjoy. I like to serve this bread warm from the oven. If you make the bread ahead of time, I suggest heating it before it's served. It is soft and lovely when its warm, but it can taste a lot like cold pizza if it sits around too long. The experts have myriad theories as to how the bread got its name. If you're curious you can find the information here. The recipe I used appears below.

Savory Monkey Bread...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
3 to 3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
1-1/4 cups fat-free milk
2 tablespoons canola oil
4 tablespoons butter, melted, divided
1 egg
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon each dried thyme, and rosemary, crushed

Directions:
1) Combine 2 cups flour, sugar, salt and yeast in a large bowl.
2) Heat milk, oil and 2 tablespoons butter in a small saucepan until it reaches a temperature of to 120 to 130 degrees F.
3) Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, beating just until moistened. Add egg and beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.
4) Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a bowl coated with cooking spray, turning once to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
5) Combine cheese, sesame seeds, garlic salt, paprika and herbs in a small bowl. Punch dough down. Divide into 32 pieces; roll each into a ball.
6) Drizzle 2 teaspoons butter into a 10-inch tube pan coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with one third of cheese mixture. Top with 16 balls. Repeat layers. Drizzle with remaining butter and sprinkle with remaining cheese mixture. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes.
7) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Yield: 1 loaf (32 pieces).







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You might also enjoy these recipes:
Parmesan Garlic Bubble Buns - All Day I Dream About Food
Garlic Pull-Apart Rolls - Around My Family Table
Sugar and Spice Monkey Bread - girlichef
Pepperoni Pizza Monkey Bread - Confections of a Foodie Bride
Overnight Monkey Bread - Barbara Bakes

Blue Cheese and Other Composed Butters

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I never doubted that the "something blue" of the old, new, borrowed, blue theme that I've been featuring this week would be a blue cheese butter. At the time I posted the recipe for my French dip sandwich, I had to send you off the reservation for the blue cheese butter I recommend you use to enhance its flavor. Pride demanded I remedy that situation as soon as I could. So, today I'm featuring a trio of compound butters that are wonderful additions to your kitchen quiver. A compound butter is nothing more than butter to which other ingredients have been added. They add great flavor to meals and the only requirement for making a successful spread is that all the ingredients be at room temperature. The butter should be beaten or stirred to perfect smoothness before other ingredients are added. The butter, which some cooks like to shape into a log, is then placed back into the refrigerator to chill until it is firm. The butters will keep for a week or two in the refrigerator and can be kept for several months in the freezer. They can be used as a spread for bread or tossed with vegetables or pasta to boost their flavor. Some cooks also serve them with meat or fish. They are really simple to make and they can be as simple or complex as your imagination allows. Here are three of my favorites.

Blue Cheese Butter

Ingredients:
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 pound crumbled blue cheese, room temperature
2 tablespoons port wine

Directions:
Cream butter until perfectly smooth. Add wine and blue cheese and beat until smooth. Chill. Yield: 1 cup.


Maître d'Hôtel Butter


Courtesy of Photobucket: Creative Commons License


Ingredients:
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley
1-1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

Directions:
Cream butter until perfectly smooth. Add lemon juice and parsley and mix until ingredients are well blended. Place a piece of plastic wrap on counter. Spoon butter onto plastic wrap and roll into a tight cylinder. Tie off or twist ends. Chill until firm. Yield: 16 tablespoons.


Mixed Herb Butter


Courtesy of Photobucket: Creative Commons License

Ingredients:
1/4 pound room temperature butter
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1-1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh chives
3/4 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme
3/4 teaspoon finely chopped fresh sage
3/4 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary

Directions:
Cream butter until perfectly smooth. Add oil and herbs to bowl of a food processor and pulse until oil is colored by herbs. Add to butter and, using whisk attachment, beat until butter is light and smooth, about 2 minutes. Spoon onto plastic wrap and roll into a tight log. Chill for 2 hours before serving. Yield: 8 tablespoons.

You might also enjoy these recipes:
Spicy Holiday Compound Butter - The Hungry Mouse
Horseradish and Parsley Compound Butter - Cooking with K
5 Star Makeover: Compound Butter - 5 Star Foodie Culinary Adventures
Drunken Cranberry Orange Compound Butter - The Hungry Mouse
Lemony Picatta Compound Butter - Kahakai Kitchen
Fresh Herb Compound Butter - Black Girl Chef's Whites

Herb Cheese Dip - Blue Monday

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...It's drip and dip season here in Oregon. Rain and football seem to go hand in hand and those games are a great excuse to make a dip whose roots can be found in Lyons, France. There the dip is made with fromage blanc. Rest easy in the knowledge that cottage cheese will work nearly as well and that the herbs needed to make it can all be found in your neighborhood grocery store. It was originally intended to be used as a dip for raw vegetables, but I've found it to be a wonderful sandwich spread as well. As you scan the recipe ingredients you'll find it to be a healthy and figure friendly addition to your snack repertoire. The recipe, developed by Patricia Wells, is easy to make, but the cheese needs to drain for a day or two before it is served, so wait time will have to be factored into your game plan. This also gives the flavors of the herbs an opportunity to permeate the cheese. If you have a particularly macho crew for game day, you might want to omit the vegetables and serve the dip as a spread on rounds of rye bread that are topped with salami or other deli meats. It would also be wonderful as a spread on thick slices of crusty peasant bread. The dip can be made several days in advance of serving and you probably won't have leftovers to worry about. Here's the recipe.

Herb Cheese Dip...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Patricia Wells

Ingredients:
2 cups full-fat or low-fat cottage cheese
2 shallots, peeled and minced
1 plump, fresh garlic clove, peeled and minced
3 tablespoons fresh chives, snipped with a scissors
3 tablespoons fresh tarragon leaves, snipped with a scissors
3 tablespoons fresh parsley leaves, snipped with a scissors
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, carefully stemmed
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon dry white wine
1 teaspoon best-quality sherry wine vinegar
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Mixed fresh herbs, for garnish (optional)

Directions:
1) Place cottage cheese in bowl of a food processor and pulse once, just long enough to break up cheese curds. Add shallots, garlic, chives, tarragon, parsley, and thyme, and process very briefly, pulsing only to blend. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pulse once again to distribute the seasonings.
2) Transfer mixture to a cheesecloth-lined large sieve set over a bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 24 hours and up to 48 hours.
3) Remove cheese from refrigerator. Discard any liquid that has drained from the sieve. Transfer cheese to bowl of a food processor. Add wine, vinegar, and oil, and pulse to blend. Taste for seasoning. Transfer to a small bowl. Serve at room temperature. Yield: 2 cups.

You might also enjoy these recipes:
Blue Cheese and Bacon Dip - Easy Appetizers
Smoked Salmon Cheese Spread - Drick's Rambling Cafe
Hummus - Anja's Food 4 Thought
Taramosalata - Kalofagas
Warm Black Bean Dip - One Perfect Bite
Blue Cheese Dip - One Perfect Bite

This post is being linked to:
Smiling Sally - Blue Monday

Tomato, Herb and Blue Cheese Pizza - Blue Monday

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I have one other pizza that counts blue cheese in its ingredients list. This pie is all over the internet, but I have been unable to trace its original source. Folks who love to cook and eat, sometimes bypass a recipe because it's parentage is suspect or it comes from a source that is not properly credentialed. It's the old "whose your daddy" school of cooking. In the case of this pizza, that would be a mistake. This will not set the culinary world on fire, but it makes a fast, easy and delicious meal. It has the colors of a calico quilt and is as pretty to look at as a pizza can be. I bake my pizzas in a rectangular pan because I find this shape easier to serve and store. If you prefer a round pie, the only thing that changes in this recipe is the type of pan you use. Don't be put off by the blue cheese. It blends nicely with the other ingredients and doesn't overpower the pie. While the recipe uses frozen bread dough, you can use your favorite crust or bake it on lavash or another type of flatbread. Here's the recipe.

Tomato, Herb and Blue Cheese Pizza...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
1 (1-lb.) loaf frozen bread dough, thawed
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons dried basil
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 small red onion, thinly sliced, pulled into rings
2 plum tomatoes, chopped
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
3 ounces of crumbled blue cheese
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1) Cut bread dough in half. Press each portion onto bottom of an 9 x 13-inch baking pan coated with nonstick cooking spray; build up edges slightly. Prick dough several times with a fork. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.
2) Brush dough with oil. Combine basil, oregano and garlic powder and sprinkle dough. Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Arrange onion and tomatoes over crust. Sprinkle with mozzarella and blue cheese. Bake until golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes longer. Yield: 2 pies.

You might also enjoy these recipes:
Greek-Style Flatbread Pizza - One Perfect Bite
Caramelized Onion, Blue Cheese and Walnut Pizza - One Perfect Bite
Mexicali Pizza - One Perfect Bite

This post is being linked to:
Smiling Sally - Blue Monday
Meatless Monday at My Sweet and Savory