Macaroni Grill Rosemary Bread

I found this recipe HERE. We actually have the real Macaroni Grill recipe somewhere, but we can't find it right now. If we ever run across it again, I'll try to remember to post whatever differences there are. :)

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbs. yeast
• 1 Tbs. sugar
• 1 cup warm water
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 2 tsp. salt
• 2 Tbs. rosemary
• 2 Tbs. butter
  

Directions:

Place yeast, sugar and water in large bowl or food processor and allow mixture to become bubbly.

Mix in 1 T butter, salt, and 2 cups of flour.

Add one tablespoon of the fresh chopped rosemary.

Knead for about 10 minutes by hand or in food processor about 5 minutes until smooth and elastic.

Add more flour if necessary.

Oil a bowl, put dough in it and cover with a towel.

Let dough rise in a warm place for one hour until doubled.

Punch down dough and divide in half.

Let dough rest about 5 minutes.

Spray baking pan or cookie sheet with cooking spray.

Shape the dough into 2 small rounded oval loaves.

Sprinkle remaining 1 Tablespoon of rosemary over the loaves and press lightly into the surface.

Let loaves rise again until doubled, about 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly browned.

Carefully remove from oven, brush with remaining butter (and salt if desired).

I've made this twice now. Once I used soft white wheat, and once hard white. The hard white definitely did better; it was not nearly so crumbly! I'd like to try it again with store-bought all-purpose or bread flour, but we've never had that on hand when I've made it. Also, I just used the ingredients as a guideline. I generally double the amount of yeast that a bread recipe calls for merely because Daddy taught me how to make bread, and he does that. I don't know if it's necessary or not, but I've never had a problem with it rising. :D And, of course, it used a bit more that 2 1/2 cups of flour, but not too much. Anyway, hope y'all enjoy this! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Almond Panna Cotta

This recipe is so good! It would be really quick too, if you bought almond butter instead of making your own.

• 1 cup of whole, blanched almonds, toasted
• 2/3 cup of sugar
• 1 envelope of unflavored gelatin
• 2 cups of whipping cream
• 1/2 cup of milk
• 1//8 teaspoon of salt

Place the almonds in a food processor and process until finely ground into a smooth butter. We got this to work a little better in the blender.

In a medium saucepan stir together sugar and gelatin. Add whipping cream Heat and stir until gelatin is dissolved. Remove from heat. Stir in the almond butter, the milk, and salt. Pour into six 6-ounce ramekins or custard dishes. Cover and chill for 6 to 24 hours, or until set.

Prepare Mocha Sauce (I'll post that recipe in a different post). To serve, loosen panna cotta from sides of dishes with a knife. Invert onto six dessert plates. Spoon or drizzle some Mocha Sauce around each panna cotta. Serve with additional Mocha Sauce and, if desired, garnish with sliced almonds.

Italian Bread

This is a super easy recipe for either French or Italian bread and it freezes very well. We normally double it so that we don't have to make it too often.

3½ t. yeast

2 cups hot water

1½ t. salt

2 cups white flour

3½ cups soft white flour

1 T. Italian seasoning (omit if making French bread)

2 T. honey

2½ T. oil

Mix all ingredients in large bowl and knead for 8 minutes (we use our bread machine so we don't have to hand-knead.) Let rise until doubled. Shape into oblong loaves and let rise. Slit loaves with a dough knife right before baking. Bake at 400 for 25 minutes.
Yield: 2 loaves
Enjoy!

Rosemary Pasta in Roasted Garlic Sauce

I made this recipe last night to have with some steaks that Daddy grilled. It went over very well!

• 6 Tbs butter, divided
• ½ cup of finely chopped onion
• 6 cloves of coarsely chopped garlic
• 1 cup of chicken stock
• 2 Tbs chopped fresh rosemary (we didn't have fresh, but dried worked fine)
• 1 (16 oz.) package of spaghetti (we use vermicelli in place of spaghetti usually)
• ¼ cup of grated Parmesan cheese
• kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over low heat. Add the onions; cook and stir until they turn a deep brown, about 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic, and cook for 2 minutes, until fragrant. Mix in the chicken stock and rosemary, and increase the heat to medium-high. Cook until reduced by ⅓, about 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the pasta, and cook until tender, about 8 minutes. Drain, then add noodles to the sauce in the skillet. Stir in the remaining butter and Parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve in a large bowl family style, or place about 1 cup of pasta in a large mug or small bowl. Insert a dinner fork in the center of the pasta and twirl the fork around, holding the mug steady. The pasta will wind up tighter and tighter as you turn. Remove the fork and immediately turn the pasta out onto a dinner plate of shallow bowl. Garnish with extra cheese and rosemary sprigs.

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