Monkey Bread - For All Your Favorite Monkeys

Oh my gosh, is this ever an easy evening snack or quick dinner party starter or a great breakfast treat for crazy monkeys.

I think that I'll make this savory version for our next family movie night which we like to do when it's cool enough to have the outdoor fireplace going.

We roast marshmallows, little smokies and Tsunami will set up the flatscreen tv so we can watch the movie outside by the pool, sit by the fire and have snacks right in the garden. Quite lovely and festive.

I got this idea after having traditional monkey bread with my girlfriend and her little girl. Something we love and have made together before. But because we wanted a quick fix, we decided to cut the whole process short and use biscuits in a can instead of making the monkey bread dough from scratch.

No time for that with a 6 year old! Instant gratification is more important and so, we made it together the night before and put plastic wrap on top in the fridge so we would have it the next morning. She liked rolling the dough balls and we worked on the sugared mixture.

Quick Fix Monkey Bread:

• biscuits, cut in half or quarters, rolled into balls
• buttered or oiled bundt pan

Traditional Sweet Flavors:

• 1 stick of butter
• 1/4 c sugar
• 1/4 c brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla

Savory American Flavors:

• Bacon, crispy and crumbled
• Wisconsin Sharp Cheddar (or Vermont)
• Chives or Green Onions, (optional garnish)
• Melted butter

Savory Italian Flavors:

• Sopressata chopped
• Parmesan cheese
• green olives chopped
• Parsley chopped (optional garnish)
• olive oil

Savory Mexican Flavors:

• Chorizo, fresh or cured
• Quesadilla cheese
• Red onions, diced
• Cilantro, chopped (optional garnish)
• olive oil

For the sweet monkey bread:
Melt the butter, sugars, vanilla and cinnamon in a saucepan on the stove over medium heat, mixing thoroughly before hand but not stirring while it heats up. This prevents sugar crystalizing and allows the mixture to caramelize and thicken. Once the sugar has melted and dissolved, turn off the heat.

Dump all dough balls into the warmed sugar mixture and then dump the whole pan of sugared dough into the buttered or greased bundt pan.

Optionally, you can also add raisins soaked in Brandy or Cognac, which I love, but since we were making these for the youngster, we opted to leave this out and just do plain.

While we were baking these, which we baked for about 30 minutes on 350 F, our hungry munchkin asked if we could make some icing. Of course! So the pretty little princess helped and that's what we did.

Icing:

• 1 cup of powdered sugar
• 1 tsp of vanilla
• 2 tbsp of milk or enough to make the consistency you desire
• 1 princess to stir until it's perfect

For the savory monkey bread:
Put dough balls and all savory ingredients into a bowl and gently fold to mix everything thoroughly. Dump the whole mess into a bundt pan and drizzle with your favorite olive oil or melted butter.

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.

To serve any version, turn out onto a serving dish and serve immediately.

Holy Chorizo!

Ingredients

• 2 lbs pork, ground (we prefer 1 lb ground pork, 1 lb ground venison)
• 3 1/2 tsp freshly ground sea salt
• 8 tbsp Spanish paprika, hot and smoked equal parts
• 6 - 20 small hot dried red chiles: chiltepin, Thai dragon, pico de gallo or similar, crushed
• 6 cloves garlic, grated
• 2 tbsp dry leaf oregano
• 2 tsp whole cumin seed, crushed
• 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper, ground
• 1 1/2 tsp sugar
• 4 tbsp cider or white wine vinegar
• 2 1/2 tbsp water

Directions

Place ground pork and venison in a large bowl, mixing gently to incorporate. Add all remaining ingredients and mix using two forks until thoroughly and evenly mixed.

Cover, refrigerate and let chorizo cure for a couple days, if you really can resist. I actually think you should give in and cook a quick pat tie to test the flavors. I like a little more acid, but truth be told, when Hubby made this tonight I was blown away. How freaking easy?

You can use it immediately, but it always tastes much better when you let the chorizo spices blend together. This authentic mexican chorizo will keep in the refrigerator about a couple of weeks. But, it likely won't last.

Ours was awesome and because we used half venison, it wasn't at all greasy like some of my favorite local chorizos. We are in the Heartland and venison is a local specialty easier to come by in the Fall if you know an excellent woodsman like I do. We don't just get venison, we get Midwest corn-fed, y'all. Don't have it? Try lamb or bison. Anything without as much natural fat, to balance the lovely fat in the pork.

Wrap the sausage in small packages and freeze unused portions. Chorizo will keep several months in your freezer. It can also be stuffed into casings and smoked like any other pork sausage. (Seriously, we are trying the smoked version tomorrow night. We have a salmon curing tonight for the smoker so we might as well do them both on the Egg at the same time!)

Location:Minneapolis,United States