This delicious recipe is sure to become a favorite – kick it up by cracking an egg onto the center of the pizza prior to baking.

Preheat oven to 475° F.

Whisk together garlic and olive oil and brush over pizza crust.

Evenly distribute cheese over crust, and arrange asparagus, prosciutto, and red onions on top of cheese.

Bake for approximately 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and lightly browned.

Recipe courtesy of Emmi Roth USA

In Russell Simmons' book cow's milk just doesn't cut it. So much so that he's taken the issue up with governor Cuomo:

Music mogul Russell Simmons wants New York's governor to pull the plug on milk from cows.

The hip-hop impresario writes in a letter to Andrew Cuomo (KWOH'-moh) that milk should no longer be the state's official beverage.

Simmons, a vegan who has taken on several animal rights causes with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, says milk from cows is less healthy than milk from rice, almonds or soy.

Read more here

Alistair Coleman has a thing or two to say about the conflict arising between Russia and the Ukraine over cheese exports. He's also got plenty of snark leftover for American cheese:

It turns out that notorious cheese-criminals Russia and the peaceful cheese-producing nation that is The Ukraine* are on the verge of a major trade war over cheese exports.

Cheese!

It is - in my barely considered opinion - just as bad as the spat the two countries endured over gas and oil exports, a dispute that ended with former glamour-puss turned mad cat woman Ukrainian PM Yulia Tymoshenko doing seven years in stir for dodgy corruption charges. Then there was that nasty business over a less than flattering review left in TripAdvisor ("Moscow seems OK, but the hotel maid didn't fold the toilet paper into a point"), after which all hell was let loose.

Heather Christo Cooks knows something about low-maintenance savory baking, and it shows in this recipe for cheese and onion monkey bread. Check it out:

I love traditional monkey bread, but I had to put a twist on it with savory flavors. I made this in the fall for some friends, and they have been asking ever since for me to do a blog post so that they could have the recipe.

Soft, I mean really soft, buttery rolls smothered in cheddar cheese and onions baked into a lovely bread.

Cheese and Onion Monkey Bread, serves 10
2 large cans of biscuit dough
1 Tbs of butter
1 yellow onion, peeled and thinly sliced
1 Tbs of fresh thyme
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 cup butter

See the full recipe and images here

Cheese Underground has the story on Holland's Family Cheese's expansion plan, and the unexpected opposition they are facing in their community:

One of Wisconsin's best-loved farmstead cheesemakers thought building a new cheese factory, a 300-cow dairy farm and farmstead retail store with an agri-tourism focus would be welcomed by their entire local community. They thought wrong.

Holland's Family Cheese's Marieke and Rolf Penterman, along with their five young children, are facing opposition and open hostility from a very small but vocal group of Thorp residents, who argue a "factory farm" within city limits will lead to water contamination, air and soil pollution, and an increased risk of children developing asthma from the dust and odor of a working dairy farm.

For the French speaking cheese lovers of the world, here is a great video from Daily Motion about the rise and fall of French and American cheesemaking. Any translations welcome:
Read more here

La guerre des fromages qui puent by tzetze

You may remember our recent interview with LA-based chef and Top Chef fan-favorite Fabio Viviani.

Well, Fabio's got his own TV show now with Yahoo!, cooking simple, Italian-inflected dishes and goofing around with his trademark style, and he's featuring the much-requested ricotta fritters he mentioned in his interview, along with a nice prosecco cocktail to keep the party cranking. Check it out:

"If Superman could transmute into a dessert, it would be ricotta fritters..."

;

In honor of National Cream Cheese Brownie Day, we're posting this recipe from Kitchn with the conviction that goat cheese can only improve the cream cheese brownie. Let us know what you think:

I've always been a fan of goat cheese in desserts; its mellow funkiness is more interesting than plain cream cheese. I use both here — cream cheese to make sure the topping is creamy enough, and goat cheese for serious flavor. Raspberries are a classic pair with goat cheese, and I love them with chocolate, so I swirled them into the topping, and baked them into the brownies themselves.

Apparently February 10th is National Cream Cheese Brownie Day. Surprised? We were too, but we got over it quick and have moved on to celebration - aka brownie binging. Join us, and the folks at CNN!

It's a true love story when rich fudgy brownies meet tangy cream cheese. You have the whole day to bliss out over this complete perfection, and marvel at how they ever existed without one another.

There's an art to making a dense, fudge-like brownie with a cheesecake-esque filling and swirling the two together in perfect harmony. The key? First, it's softening your cream cheese before beating it with the other ingredients. And then it's all about the art of the dollop.

Read more here
Photo by Austin Squarepants

Ted Williams, the man with the golden voice, is paying back the world for his rapid rise from homelessness to fame and fortune, by helping out fans with some custom-spoken Valentine's Day greetings:

"Golden Voice" Ted Williams has received a lot of love and support throughout the past year, and now he wants to give back during this season of love. With his soulful voice, Mr. Williams will spread a little bit of love this Valentine's Day, and in the process, help feed the hungry through the KRAFT Macaroni & Cheese "Golden Voice of Love" campaign.