"Because you can get a recipe for French onion soup anywhere, I made a point to not include one in this book. Still, I cannot deny its appeal. The thing is that with every bowl of French onion I’ve ever slurped, what I enjoy most is the little crouton at the top soaked with sweet, rich broth and lacquered with broiled cheese.

So in lieu of the soup itself, I give you a Bundt pan full of oniony bread. Monkey bread, also known as a pinch-me loaf, is often a sweet pullapart treat where small balls of dough are coated in butter, cinnamon, and sugar then proofed and finally baked together. It comes out of the oven and everybody gathers ’round to pinch off gooey morsels from the group. Pinch Me, Frenchie is just that, except the plump little yeast rolls are rolled in R-Rated Onions, butter, and cheese. It’s not dessert, but it could be.

I’ve chosen to bake this in a Bundt pan because monkey bread is a communal, get-allthe- fingers-in-there kind of thing. But you could do this in a couple muffin tins to give your pinchers individual servings to work with. Just decrease the baking time by about 7 minutes if you go that route." — Vivian Howard, celebrated chef and part of the Friends of Milk Street network.

Reprinted with permission. "This Will Make It Taste Good: A New Path to Simple Cooking" (Voracious, October 2020).