A FAST American Classic: Monkey Bread

Why is Monkey Bread so named? It's a great name. I'd never heard of it before moving the U.S., and according to Wikipedia, no-one outside the U.S. eats it.

Casting my mind back to parties/brunches at which I'd seen this delicious baked pastry served I had a theory about how this sweet treat might have earned its name. It's 'cos everyone jumps on the pastry the minute it's pulled from the oven.  And because the bread is piping hot which means it is thrown from hand to hand in order to cool it down, those eating the bread look less like ravenous wolves and more like a group of monkeys eating communally.  Well that was my theory.  (And it's shared by several others according to my very superficial internet research.)

Another site, however, offers a more learned suggestion.  It may be related in some way to the appearance of the monkey puzzle tree, or even look like monkey brains.  Feel free to pick the story you like best.

This recipe, lifted from People magazine, has a scant four ingredients.  This is my type of baking!  Quick and very few dishes to wash up as you go along...

Here's how to do it...

• 4 z 7.5oz cans refrigerated biscuits
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 tbsps cinnamon
• 1 1/2 sticks of butter

Monkey bread in the raw - who knew baking could be so easy...?

1. Preheat oven to 350degrees
2. Combine 1 cup sugar and 2 tbsps cinnamon in a ziploc bag
3. Cut biscuits into quarters, add to bag and shake until coated
4. Transfer to a greased 12inch tube pan/ring
5. Melt remaining butter and sugar and cinnamon and bring to the boil.  Pour over the biscuits in the tin.
6. Bake biscuits until dough has risen and they are all nicely puffed up - approx 35-40mins.
7. Remove fromn oven and allow to cool.
8. Invert onto a plate and watch your guests tear the bread apart!

People started tucking into this before it got out of the baking pan!

Now I'm a believer.

Voila.

An American Classic with a Twist: Meatloaf Minis

Meatloaf minis..doused in ketchup

As a transplant to the U.S., many of the dinner staples - the "meals like Mom made" - have passed me by.  I didn't grow up dining on such dishes as meatloaf and mac 'n' cheese.  It's been an interesting process acquiring these recipes for my own family.

I found the latest addition to my repertoire of "American classics" while waiting in a doctor's office, perusing a copy of People magazine.  In the food section of the magazine is a 'Great Ideas" page, which is basically a cook-it-quick recipe that anyone can make. 

This recipe earned a place at our table because while my son adores meatloaf, my daughter won't touch it because the meat is just too dense. 

This recipe keeps all parties happy;

• it's a souped up meatloaf (you wouldn't know that it's crammed with healthy veggies!);
• it's much lighter than a standard meat-heavy meatloaf - the recipe uses grated vegetables and rolled oats which seem to break up the density of the meat itself;
• and I like the aesthetics!  The meatloaf minis look more like oversized meatballs, which I prefer to having a slab of meatloaf on my plate. 

Win, win, win.

The meatloaf minis I made looked just as gorgeous as the (no doubt digitally enhanced) photo in People  magazine, but I promise you they come out of the oven looking most pretty...

Although this recipe uses turkey, I substituted the same quantity of ground beef.  Likewise, rather than using shredded broccoli, I substituted already grated carrots (see above).

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup grated onion (I didn't fancy grating an onion - and ruining my nails in the process - so bought a pre-chopped pack of diced celery and diced onion).
• 7tbsp ketchup
• 1 1/4lb lean turkey mince
• 3 cups shredded broccoli coleslaw, chopped
• 1/2 cup fat free liquid egg (I didn't have these in my pantry so used a real egg instead!)
• 1/2 cup quick cooking oats
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp salt

Method

• Heat oven to 350degrees
• Line 9-10 compartments of a muffin tin with baking cups or spray with a non stick spray
• Combine all ingredients except 3tbsp of ketchup in a bowl and mix thoroughly (I actually pre-fried the onion and celery I was adding, in order to ensure that they were nicely softened, but the recipe doesn't call for this...)
• Divide mixture evenly among the cups.  Brush each muffin with 1tsp of ketchup
• Bake for 30-35 mins.

Now on to dessert - cheat's Monkey Bread! 

This is more an assemblage than real baking. 

But that suits me perfectly. 

This too from People mag.  It was a pretty productive trip to the Dr. that day...

Recipe to follow.