Tragic Sandwich

Tag: brunch

  • Easy Weekend Breakfast: Monkey Bread

    I remember monkey bread from my childhood. It wasn’t one of my mom’s regular weekend breakfast dishes–in fact, I’m not sure she made it more than once–but clearly it made an impression. With only three of us in the house, and one of us quite small, I don’t make a lot of big breakfasts. Most weekends, we eat pretty much the same things we eat during the week–eggs, some sort of breakfast bar or pastry, and fruit.

    But I want to have some “company” meals on tap, for the years we host family at the holidays, or for when we have other out-of-town visitors. First up? Monkey Bread.

    I read a variety of recipes, and yes–I am sure that making the dough from scratch is better. But who has time? People who aren’t me. And while I have a Bundt pan, I wanted to see if I could make it in a regular pan. Spoiler alert: I totally can.

    Monkey Bread

    Monkey Bread

    1 can jumbo biscuits
    3 Tbsp. butter
    1 tsp. honey
    2 Tbsp. brown sugar, divided
    cinnamon and nutmeg, to taste

    Heat oven to 375. Spray a 9×9 pan with cooking spray. Melt the butter and honey and use half to cover the bottom of the pan. Distribute half of brown sugar in bottom of pan.

    Cut each biscuit into quarters and cram all the pieces into the pan in a single layer. Top with remaining brown sugar and drizzle remaining butter and honey over everything.

    Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until top is beginning to turn golden brown. Cool pan on rack for 3 minutes and turn onto serving plate.

    This was just what I was looking for–easy and quick, and sweet-but-not-TOO-sweet. It’s definitely a keeper.

  • Shanghai Red’s

    For the life of me, I can’t figure out the name of this place. There is absolutely nothing Chinese about the food at Shanghai Red’s. A friend suggested that we meet there for brunch, and since I’d heard good things about the restaurant but had never been there, I agreed. Then I looked up the menu online and thought, “This had better be good. Because I normally save meals that cost this much for splurgy nights out with J.”

    You enter the restaurant through a tropical, quasi-Asian walkway dripping with ferns. The tables are spread through several rooms, some indoor and some out. The setting is terrific–in the heart of Marina del Rey, with views of the water and boats. And who doesn’t like looking at boats?

    There are at least three lavish brunch stations: a long room filled with hot dishes ranging from tamales to eggs Benedict to crab legs; an omelet and waffle station; and a room filled with desserts. Everything was excellent, down to the crisp-but-not-burned bacon (and I do love bacon).

    On top of that, I got to spend time with a good friend I haven’t seen in months. And really, you can’t put a price on that. Especially when it comes with delicious food. And boats.