Gorilla Bread

I've mentioned my herbs are thriving haven't I? If I wasn't out there regularly it'd be a jungle out there!

One herb I haven't used much is my rosemary. I love rosemary and only one little tiny branch of it survived the winter. Why is that? Rosemary is supposedly a perennial. Yet, it's my annual herbs that come back every year?

Well after a very slow start . . .

It's grown into a beautiful plant!

Just in time for fall recipes!

I am ready to bake bread again! I want to bake. I need to bake. The only recipes swirling through my head right now involve yeast and flour and the oven. I also want gravy. Why is no one interested in gravy these days? The 103 F heat? Wimps! So when my girlfriend brought me some spaghetti sauce over I thought . . . hmm, wouldn't some garlic bread be good?

Then I wondered if some garlic-herb bread would be even better.

Well of course it would!

Oh, and what if there was just a teeny, tiny, bit of cheese in it?

Eureka!

Then I realized it was 1:00 in the afternoon. We had soccer. We had cross country. We had church meetings. We had HOMEWORK!

So I reached in my freezer . . .

. . . and grabbed out the nuggets of goodness!

Now how to get all that garlicky, herby, cheesy goodness into the bread as quickly and simply as possible? Hmm, what about monkey bread? Monkey bread starts with plain dough! Let's make a savory monkey bread! Let's make Gorilla Bread!

Since it was dead frozen I decided to throw it in some tepid water to accelerate the thawing process. Just for 5-10 minutes while I get my other ingredients ready.

I thought some olive oil would be a nice change. You could melt butter if you liked though.

I went ahead and oiled up the pan while I had it out! I'm using a lot because I want it to get crusty. I like crusty bread.

I chose 4 smallish cloves of garlic.

Then I minced it right into the oil.

Now for a bit of salt. Salt helps grind up the garlic and makes it release all its garlicky lovelyness into the oil.

Now I've got my beautiful sprig of rosemary and I'm pulling all the leaves off by running my fingers down it the wrong way. If rosemary was a cat it'd be angry right now.

Then I chopped it up a bit. I figured those inch long needly leaves would be unappetizing for most people. If this was thyme I'd have less work. Hmm? Wouldn't thyme bread be good with chicken?

Throw your herbs in the oil.

Mix it up! Add some black pepper at this point if you like.

Now retrieve your dough nuggets from the sink. Mine are still rather firm . . .

But they're almost easier to cut that way!

Go ahead and cut them in fourths. I didn't bother cleaning my board because I'm getting ready to rub that stuff on it anyway!

Now, get some grated Parmesan ready. I have about 1/3 cup of the pre-grated stuff here. If you're grating it yourself you'll need almost 1/2 a cup because it's fluffier!

Let's get monkeying . . . or whatever you want to call it . . .

First we dip it in the oil . . .

There it goes! Nicely coated.

Now roll it in the Parmesan!

Beautiful! Throw it in the greased pan and start with the next one.

After about the fourth one I got a little bored . . .

So I just drizzled all the oil and herbs over the dough.

Then I tossed them around a little. They still have frozen centers so they toss pretty well. If I had let them get warm and sticky? No way.

At this point I was wishing I had made my oil mixture in a bigger bowl! Be wise, plan ahead for laziness!

Then I sprinkled the bowl of cheese over it and tossed them around again.

What beautiful pillows of deliciousness they are!

Throw them in your pan.

Cover them up and let 'em rise!

I used foil because . . . it was the only thing I had. I've spent the last two weeks buying foil just to make sure that my Dear One had adequate supplies for his camping trip. Every time I've been by the wrap section of the grocery I've thought--Does he have enough foil? Better get some . . . instead of picking up the plastic wrap that I was clearly running out of. Now if I had only packed the right food . . .

Side by side before and after shot. See how they've grown? It's not a huge difference. But they are starting to fill it in. How long will this take? Well if the dough had been completely thawed 20-30 minutes would of been fine. My dough was half frozen so I kept it on the stove while I preheated and it took 45 minutes or so.

I decided to throw on a little more parmesan on top before it baked just because I love parmesan cheese.

Now, you did preheat your oven to 400 F for at least 15 minutes?You want to get the walls warm so it can get back up to temperature quickly after you open the door!

In it goes! Twenty minutes later . . .

Mmmmmm!

It smells divine! Garlic and rosemary are wafting up at me with undertones of fresh baked bread . . .

Little flecks of rosemary, garlic and parmesan perfume each tender pillow. These are sprinkles for grown ups!

The bottom of each one has a little crust of baked Parmesan where it was resting against the oiled pan! It adds a crispy, cheesy, bite to each soft nugget.

Gorilla Bread-Garlic Herb bread

1 lb package of frozen bread dough, partially thawed
3 Tbsp of olive oil (or melted butter)
1 Tbsp minced fresh rosemary (about one large sprig)
4 small cloves of garlic, minced *
1/2 tsp of salt *
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese plus extra for sprinkling **

Grease an 8-9 inch cake pan with 1 Tbsp of olive oil. Mix together remaining 2 Tbsp olive oil, rosemary, garlic and salt in large bowl. Cut dough into small pieces and toss in olive oil mixture until each piece of dough is well covered. Add 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese to bowl and gently toss until each piece has some cheese on it. Place in greased pan, covered and allow to rise until almost doubled in size, 20-40 minutes. Meanwhile preheat oven at least 15 minutes to 400 F. Uncover dough and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

Serve immediately.

*My daughter wanted this to be saltier and more garlicky. So if you like your garlic bread to be intense add another 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp of garlic powder when adding the salt to the oil mixture and proceed with the recipe.

**If you are grating the cheese yourself it will be much fluffier and I recommend you add 1/2 of a cup instead of the 1/3 cup measurement.

Potato Salad for Two

We've discussed my difficulties with potato salad before, so you may be wondering about my post of another one!

Well when you struggle with something so basic you have two choices . . .

1) Study and experiment until you conquer it.

2) Buy it at Hyvee.

I'm stubborn . . . oh yeah, "strong-willed" is the current term!

My mother always said I was incredibly strong-willed. Then she met my future husband. Then we procreated four times. She once commented "They're kind of like animals . . ."

Now, to her defense, she was raised on a farm and knew that most animals have to be convinced that an action is to their benefit before they'll do it. The cow and chicken are not really concerned about your happiness or needs. I am sure that's what she meant . . . really . . . sure . . .

My children's mistakes are generally their own, sure as heck ain't peer pressure!

It's going to make them happy responsible adults. I hope.

Anyway back to potato salad! I decided to make potato salad yesterday because I wanted something cold for dinner. There's a heat wave you know.

I also had three old, small potatoes that really needed to be used up! So I figured "Why not?"

Go ahead and peel them up.

I like to cube russets since they tend to crumble. You can cube them to whatever size you like. Just try to get most of them the same size.

Here's an example! Those skinny corner pieces will end up quite crumbly by the time the big ones are done but it'll be okay.

Put the potatoes in some lightly salted water. Just enough to cover them will do. Go ahead and put them on the stove on some high heat. The dressing for our salad is soooo simple it'll take no time!

Here's my secret condiment! Can you tell what it is?

Here's the deal, as long as you use your favorite ranch dressing you'll end up liking the potato salad!

A little mustard is in order! I like the bright yellow hot dog mustard in this salad but this is what I have right now.

Mix it right in!

Now this is important. We're going to add some more raw vegetables to our salad so we need to make sure our cutting board is clean of potato dirt! Potato dirt often carries bacteria that will give you the food poisoning that's blamed on mayonnaise!

Now for a little onion. I like to slice my green onion in half so there's no huge chunks of onion.

Slice them thinly and add 'em in.

Now for celery! Split it down the middle . . .

Nice thin slices . . .

Mix it all together.

Give it a taste . . .

Needs a little more tang so more mustard is necessary. When the mustard hits the hot potatoes it's vinegary tang is going to be really muted. So at this stage I always make it tangier than I want the ending salad to be.

After you clean up your cutting board and knives your potatoes are probably going to start boiling. It'll only take 5-10 minutes for them to get soft.

They're soft!

Drain the potatoes and put the dressing on them.

Stir them up!

Now go ahead and spread it out on a plate and sprinkle some flat leaf parsley on it. Parsley is sprinkles for potato salad! For this simple one it actually adds a nice flavor.

Mmmm, the potatoes are soft yet still have their naturally firm texture. The ranch dressing is salty and creamy. The mustard adds tang and color. The onions and celery add crunch, gentle heat, and a delicate sweetness. The parsley is the finishing touch! It's green is so pretty and its flavor adds the herbaceous bitterness I crave in all my foods!

Okay, it actually serves four!

Ranch Potato Salad

3 small russet potatoes, peeled and diced
3 cups water
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup ranch dressing
1 1/2 tsp mustard
1 stalk of celery, finely chopped
1 green onion, finely sliced
1/3 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped

Place potatoes, water and salt in saucepan and bring to boil. Cook until tender and drain.

Meanwhile, Mix ranch dressing, mustard, celery, and onion together. Dress hot potatoes with dressing. Place on serving platter or bowl and sprinkle with parsley. Chill in refrigerator. Serves 4.