Red Monkey Seasoning and Rubs

I stumbled across the Red Monkey website over 2 months ago and they graciously sent me a few samples to try. I’ve been using them in a variety of recipes from commercial to home use and each seasoning is loaded with flavor.

The main three that I have utilized are:

Mango Habanera – a delicious blend of sea salt, dried mango, orange peel, spices, peppers, smoke, garlic and a few other spices.

Smoked Paprika and Roasted Garlic – a nice blending of sea salt, garlic, smoke, onion paprika and select spices.

Hickory Smoked Balsamic – a perfect blend of sea salt, dehydrated garlic, spices and herbs, dehydrated onion, apple cider vinegar powder, ground mustard, citric acid, and balsamic vinegar powder.

I used the seasonings on chicken, ribs, steaks, pork loins and chops, fish, lobster, shrimp, vegetables, dips, sauces, gravies and the list goes on. Don’t take my word for it, go online and look up the seasonings and pick up some to try. They are certainly worth it, and at $3.99 a bottle they go a long way. They also carry foodservice sizes in a few of their blends if you need larger quantities. I’ve been using the smaller bottles but will be placing an order for foodservice sizes in the next two days. I really hope they have the Roasted Raspberry Chipotle in stock so that I can try out on some smoked pork or beef brisket.

Try taking 1 tablespoon of the Smoked Paprika and Roasted Garlic seasoning and add it to 1/2 cups of sour cream, 1/2 tsp lemon juice, and 1/2 cup Greek yogurt. Mix well and allow to sit for at least 3 hours for seasonings to blend. You can add more or less according to your personal taste, just remember that the flavor will intensify as it sits in the fridge.

Stay tuned in for more ideas and recipes featuring Red Monkey seasonings!

Irish Creme Moussecarpone Pie

This pie was created after working with Wisconsin Crave Brothers mascarpone in a variety of fashions including simply blending equal parts of mascarpone and chocolate. I took it one step further and created a crispy crust of fresh chopped pretzels, a little bit of butter and some brown sugar for sweetness.

It’s a nice dessert to have ready in a few minutes and that all it takes to make this delicious creamy dessert. You need about 6 minutes to cook the crust to set it and then about 5-8 minutes to blend the chocolate that you melted into the fresh mascarpone cheese. It really is that simple and your guests will think you went to great lengths; going to a bakery to purchase the pie or that you spent a lot of time in the kitchen creating this masterpiece.

Ingredients:
4 cups Pretzels – chopped into small pieces
1/3 cup Brown sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
10” deep dish pie pan or plate
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4 cups Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips, melted
4 cups Wisconsin Mascarpone Cheese, room temperature
¼ cup Irish Crème Whiskey, you can substitute any variety
1 tsp Vanilla extract, pure

½ cup chocolate chips reserved for topping
whipped topping

1. Preheat oven to 325˚F
2. Chop pretzels in blender or doubled zip lock bag until very small particles then place into pie plate. Add in brown sugar and melted butter and blend together then press crumb mixture evenly into pie plate.
3. Place into oven and bake for 6 minutes, then remove from oven and set aside.
4. While crust is baking, melt the chocolate until smooth and creamy, make sure not to get any water into the chocolate or it will seize up and get lumpy.
5. Blend vanilla and Irish whiskey into mascarpone, mix until incorporated, and then gradually add in melted chocolate and whisk together until smooth. If you can’t do it by hand then use a hand mixer on low speed until mixture is smooth.
6. Spread the mixture into the still warm piecrust. Press lightly into the plate; this allows the mixture to flow into the crust to bind it to the filling.
7. Sprinkle the ½ cup of chocolate chips onto the top of the pie and place into a fridge and allow hardening for at least 1-2 hours.
8. Slice and serve with whipped topping and enjoy.