Anniversary Treats!

I took a few pictures of our dinner courses, I don't have pictures of the fondue but I'll definitely share the recipe! Since our first course was the fondue, we'll start off with that one!

Mediterranean Cheese Fondue

5.5oz Fontina cheese, shredded
5.5oz Gruyere cheese, shredded
4oz white wine (we used Riesling)
1 tblsp. roasted garlic puree (we used a jar from William Sonoma)
2-3 medium shallots, minced
1/2 tblsp. minced dates
flour
white truffle oil

Pour white wine into fondue pot and turn on heat. As wine is warming, add roasted garlic and blend. Blend cheeses together with a touch of flour. Slowly add the cheese blend into the pot, mixing thoroughly using a whipping motion once the cheese is melted. Continue to add the cheese until it reaches the proper consistency. Add shallots and dates, continuing to blend with a whipping motion. Drizzle a touch truffle on the top (go light, this stuff is rich).

For dippers we purchased sour dough bread, honey wheat bread and tomato basil bread from Panera. We also lightly steamed asparagus and broccoli to dip, the key here is lightly otherwise the veggies (particularly the broccoli) will fall apart when dipping it in the cheese. Lastly we did granny smith apples, raw baby carrots and garlic chicken bites. All in all I figure it could have counted as a complete meal seeing as we had protein, vegetables, fruit, carbs and dairy! :) Just don't ask me to count the calories, I'm sure I don't want to know!

Next course we had Chicken Pomodoro:

mmmm yummy. Here is the recipe that we came up with, based off a few different recipes I had seen in some of my food magazines.

4 chicken breasts, pounded flat
flour
salt & pepper
2 tblsp. olive oil
1/4 cup white wine
3-4 garlic cloves, minced*
1 medium onion*
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 med. fresh lemon, juiced
1/2 cup tomato, chopped and seeded
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1/3 cup scallion, chopped

Place chicken breasts in a heavy duty Ziploc bag and pound away until the meat is a uniform thickness, approximately 1/4 inch thick. Meanwhile, heat olive in skillet. Season chicken with salt and pepper then roll in the flour to get a nice light dusting. Saute chicken for a few minutes, flipping half way through when nicely browned. Put cooked chicken aside in a dish once done. Add onion* into pan and saute for 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat, spoon onions over chicken and pour out any remaining oil or fat. Add the white wine & minced garlic to skillet*. Return to heat and stir continually until wine is nearly gone. Add broth, lemon juice and chicken to pan, cooking 1 minute on each side. Transfer chicken and sauce to dish. Add tomatoes, cream and onions to pan, heat through and pour over top of the chicken. Garnish with the scallions and serve.

*We added a few modifications to the original recipes because we love garlic and onions and felt the recipe bases we had read lacked in the flavor department. The garlic and onions were a delicious addition and really some wonderful depth to the dish!

Our next course we had a delicious Caesar salad with homemade croutons and garlic chicken bites (see third recipe in post)!

Lastly, we force fed each other a delicious apple bar. We were so stuffed at this point but they smelled so fragrant and delicious that we just couldn't resist. Our cake baker makes a fresh top layer of your wedding cake for you on your anniversary but we postponed this a little bit as there's been so much sickness floating around we didn't want to gorge on sweets and risk killing our immune systems.

Fresh Apple Spice Bars

3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup oil
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup nuts
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
4 cups apples, chopped

Combine all ingredients together, pat onto cookie sheet. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Frost while warm.

Frosting:

3 cups powder sugar
1 tblsp. butter
2-3 drops almond extract
water

In saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Add powdered sugar, almond extract and enough water to make appropriate consistency.


And there you have it! It was an amazing fun, we had a blast cooking and are definitely going to make it a priority to have dates like this more often.