Brie, Rosemary and Garlic Fondue

This recipe comes from Stephanie. I don't know where she got it, but it's AMAZING.

1 cup Chardonnay
2 shallots, minced
Rosemary stem, leaves removed and minced, stem reserved
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons heavy cream
4 Oz butter
3 Oz Brie, rind removed and cubed into small cubes
1 Oz Parmigiana-Reggiano, shredded

In a medium saucepan, combine the chardonnay, shallots, rosemary stem and minced garlic and reduce by half. Add the cream and reduce by 1/3. Whisk in the butter and the Brie and the Parmigiana-Reggiano. Cook until the cheeses are melted. Strain through a fine mesh strainer and add the chopped rosemary (I actually didn't strain it). Transfer to a fondue pot and keep warm on medium heat.

Use fresh baguette slices or chunks of flavorful artisan breads, lightly blanched vegetables, fruit (i.e. green apples and purple seedless grapes), cooked and sliced flavored sausages or chicken.

Golden Pancakes

Ok, I know that these sound really weird, but they're actually REALLY good, and by far, more healthy for you than regular pancakes. Not to mention a lot more filling.

Serves 2
From Eating for Life

1 C uncooked whole-grain oats (non-instant)
6 egg whites
1 C fat-free cottage cheese
1/4 t vanilla extract
1/4 t ground cinnamon
2 packets sugar substitute
1/2 C sugar-free maple syrup
1/4 C mixed berries

Lightly coat a nonstick skillet or griddle with cooking spray; place over medium heat.

In a blender, combine oats, egg whites, cottage cheese, vanilla, cinnamon and sugar substitute. Blend on medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute.

Pour batter, about 1/4 cup at a time, onto hot skillet. Cook pancake until bubbly on top an ddry around edges, about 3 minutes. Turn and cook other side until golden brown, about 2 more minutes.

While pancakes are cooking, microwave maple syrup until warm, about 20 seconds.

Place a portion of pancakes on 2 separate plates. Top with warm maple syrup and mixed berries. Serve and enjoy!

**Notes from Em**
I used 3 whole eggs instead of 6 egg whites. Sure it changes the nutritional content a little bit, but the texture was still what I imagine it needed to be.

Stuffed Pizza Rolls

This is one of those really yummy appetizer type dinners. It's also a little sketchy on the measurements (like cheese and toppings) cuz those are really up to personal preference. If you make your dough from the recipe linked here, you'll want twice as many toppings. It makes a TON. I'll give you different baking instructions at the bottom for that as well.

Stuffed Pizza Rolls

From Our Best Bites

Via The Girl Who Ate Everything

Makes about 24

1 roll refrigerated pizza dough (or make your own)
pizza sauce
2 T grated Parmesan cheese
1 T olive oil or melted butter
1/2 t garlic powder
1 t dried Italian seasoning
Mozzarella cheese
Pizza toppings of your choice

Preheat oven to heat specified on pizza dough package, usually 400.

Unroll your pizza dough onto a lightly floured surface. Pat or roll the dough so it's about 12"x8". you're going to want to cut it into 24 squares, so just eyeball it if you need to. Use a pizza cutter to slice the dough into 24 squares.

Place cheese and desired toppings on each square. You're not putting the marinara sauce on the dough, it's for dipping after. When all of your dough squares have cheese and toppings on them, carefully life up each square and wrap the dough around the toppings. Pinch to make sure each ball is sealed shut and then place them seam side down in a lightly sprayed pie pan (or similar sized dish).


Brush the tops of the dough balls with olive oil or melted butter and then sprinkle with the garlic powder, Italian seasoning and Parmesan cheese.


Cook them in the oven for about 15-20 minutes or until golden brown on top. Dough's vary so make sure you check them after 10 minutes. Serve with warmed marinara/pizza sauce on the side for dipping.


**Notes from Em**
If you're using the home made pizza crust recipe that I linked, it's going to give you two full pans of these tasty rolls, so be prepared with lots of extra topping supplies, and double the amount of the herb mixture for the top. Let's face it, that stuff is good and you don't want to be stingy with it. I baked them at 425 for 13-15 minutes. Personally I really hate the taste of store-bought pizza doughs. As far as the sauce goes, I've tasted a bunch of brands of pizza sauce and have found Contadina to be the best.

Pizza Dough

Pizza Dough

From Williams-Sonoma

Makes 2 12-14 inch pizza's

2 packages (5 teaspoons) active dry yeast
2 1/2 C warm water (105-115 F)
2 t malt syrup or sugar
1 /4 C olive oil
5 C flour
1 T sea salt
all purpose flour and semolina flour for rolling and shaping

BY HAND:
To make the crust, in a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Add the malt syrup, oil, flour, and salt and stir with your hand or a wooden spoon until a rough ball forms. Using a plastic pastry scraper, scrape the dough out onto a floured work surface. Knead the dough until soft, smooth, and elastic, 8-10 minutes. Add up to 1 C flour to the work surface while kneading to prevent the dough from sticking.

BY STAND MIXER:
To make the crust, in the 5-qt bowl of a stand mixer, dissolve the yeast in the warm water and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Add the malt syrup, oil, flour, and salt. Place the bowl on the mixer, attach the dough book, and knead on low speed until soft, smooth, and elastic, about 8-10 minutes. Add up to 1 C flour while kneading so the dough will pull away from the sides of the bowl. Remove the dough from the bowl.

Form the dough into a ball, transfer it to a lightly oiled bowl, and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free spot until it doubles in bulk, 1 1/2 - 2 hours. For a more flavorful crust, make the dough up to this point, punch it down, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight. Let the dough come to room temperature before shaping.

Place a pizza or baking stone on a rack in the lower of the oven, and preheat to 500F for at least 30 minutes before baking. Turn the dough out of the bowl onto a lightly oiled work surface. Cut it in half with a sharp knife or a bench scraper. Gently shape each half into a loose ball. Cover loosely with a kitchen towel and let rest for 10 minutes. Lightly dust 1 dough ball with all-purpose flour. Roll it out into a round 12-14 inches in diameter. Spread 1/4 C semolina flour on a baker's peel or on the top of an inverted half-sheet pan. Transfer the dough round to the peel or pan.

Top the dough with desired pizza sauce, cheese and toppings. Slide the pizza off the peel or pan onto the hot stone. Bake the pizza until the crust is crisp and brown, 10-15 minutes. Using the baker's peel or a wide metal spatula, carefully transfer the pizza to a cutting board. repeat with the remaining dough and topping ingredients. Serve the pizza hot, cut into wedges.

Cinnamon Rolls

I notoriously don't like cinnamon rolls. They're far too sweet for me and usually make me really sick, These, however, were really good and worked up surprisingly quickly.

Cinnamon Rolls

From Allrecipes.com

Makes 16

1 package active dry yeast
3/4 C warm water (110 degrees F)
1/4 C white sugar
3/4 t salt
1 egg, room temperature
2 1/2 C bread flour
1/4 C butter, softened
1 T ground cinnamon
1/2 C brown sugar

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

in a large bowl, combine the yeast mixture with the sugar, salt egg and 1 cup flour; stir well to combine. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well with each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly flour surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. cover with a damp cloth and let rest for 10 minutes.

Lightly grease an 8x8 inch square baking pan. Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface to 1/4 inch thick rectangle. Smear the dough with butter and sprinkle with cinnamon and brown sugar. Roll up the dough along the edge until it forms a roll. Slice the roll into 16 equal size pieces and place them in the pan with the cut side up.

Cover pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or cover and let rise at room temperature until doubled in volume, about 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Bake rolls until golden brown, about 20 minutes.