Lauren: Probably of greatest importance to this blog, a new house and a bigger kitchen!
Dave: Not to mention a backyard and a basement. Beyond that, we've also started using Google Reader, which leads us to today's recipe.
Lauren: Between StumbleUpon and Google Reader, Dave and I managed to come upon nearly the same recipe: a savory Monkey Bread.
Dave: Interestingly enough, the savory Monkey Bread is extremely similar to the Market Day brand Pizza Dippers Lauren and I both enjoyed as children (despite them having close to 300% of the daily recommended dose of sodium.)
Lauren: Oh, what deliciousness. I still refuse to look up how many calories half of one of those have (I always split one with my brother, and extremely reluctantly at that). This is even better, though: no pizza cutter required.
Dave: This recipe, inspired by the famous brunch treat monkey bread, is a fantastic pull-apart version of pepperoni pizza. While we're talking about childhood treats, we've also put a grown-up spin on root-beer floats.
Lauren: No, not floats made with root beer Schnapps (gross) - ice cream floats made with beer. Yeah, that's right: beer. They're delicious, too.
Dave: The trick is pairing the right beer with the right ice cream. We've been experimenting with Hefeweizen and black-cherry ice cream, but tonight we made Kolsch and pineapple-coconut ice cream floats and they are fantastic! It is worth noting that the idea for beer floats came from The Chicago Diner and the blog post that came across my Reader Roll and Lauren's StumbleUpon was The Foodie Bride.
Pizza Monkey Bread
44 oz. pizza dough (We used Whole Foods pre-made for this recipe, but you could also use our from-scratch recipe: http://couplescook.blogspot.com/2010/06/june-14th-sausage-and-spinach-pizza.html)
5 leaves of basil, fresh
5 oz. mozzarella, cubed
8 oz. package vegan pepperoni (we used Yves. If you're in more of a sausage pizza mood, I recommend Upton's Naturals Italian Sausage-Style Seitan.)
Marinara sauce for dipping (Newman's Own works well, or you can make it from scratch if you have the time)
3 Tbs. butter
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
Preheat oven to 400.
In a small saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Add garlic and saute lightly until aromatic. Remove from heat.
Layer basil leaves, then roll them into a tight spiral. Cut spiral into 1/4" strips. (Point of interest: this technique is called chiffonade, and was taught to Dave by his father-in-law.) Set aside.
With well-floured hands, pull off enough dough to make a circle about 2" wide (the best way to do this is to roll the bit of dough into a ball first, then smoosh it).
Place pepperoni on the dough circle, basil on the pepperoni, then top off with a piece of mozzarella.
Bring edges of dough over the ingredient stack and pinch to seal.
Brush both sides of the ball with the garlic butter, then place in a loaf pan.
Brush both sides of the ball with the garlic butter, then place in a loaf pan.
Repeat process until loaf pan is full. Top with any remaining ingredients.
Bake for 15 minutes. Lower oven temperature to 350 F and cook for another 15 minutes, or until bread is firm.
Let stand cool for 5 minutes. Serve with warmed marinara.
Beer Float
This is a fun one to experiment with. If you find any winning flavor combinations, PLEASE share them with us!
Ingredients:
1 Bottle of Beer (Lighter flavors seem to work well. We've had success with 312, Goose Island Summer and Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat.)
2 Scoops of Ice Cream (Fruit flavors or vanilla seem to work best.)
Pour the beer into a pint glass. Do your best to have as little "head" on the beer as possible.
Scoop the ice cream into the beer and top with a cherry (for whimsy)
Consume quickly, as the beer will foam up immediately.
