Brie en croûte

This just happened in my kitchen.

There are no words. I will not even attempt at writing a post befitting of this recipe. I will just tell you how to make it yourselves, and know that, if I should do nothing else at all, I will have left the world a tiny bit better than I found it.

We should all worry less about what others do, do more of what makes us happy, and eat more cheese.

(This picture… I know, NOT sexy. But I found it impossible to capture the oozing molten cheese flood in a sexy way, when all I wanted was to bury my face in it)

One year ago on May the Cheese Be With You: Provolone Salad

Other Brie recipes: Baked Cherry Brie Bites, Chips del Diamant, Strawberry Almond Brie Salad

Servings: 1, if it were up to me. Probably more like 4, though, or 8, depending of the size of your brie round

Prep time: 45 minutes

You will need:

• 1 Brie round
• 1 sheet of round puff pastry, large enough to cover the entire brie round
• 3/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, cut up into little chunks (more if using a large brie round)
• 1/2 tablespoon dried thyme
• 1 egg + 1 tablespoon water, beat together
• apples, crackers, veggies or any other dip-able fare you can come up with

To begin with, roll out the puff pastry sheet onto a flat surface and place your little brie round right in the middle.

In a small bowl, mix the tomatoes with the thyme.

Spoon (in my case, more like heap) the mixture onto the brie round, as well as around the sides.

Then gather the pastry up to create a little pouch, and cinch it shut. You can also get creative and make nice variations and spectacular designs.

But I am lazy. I hereby officially extend the invitation to be lazy with me.

It will taste the same. Promise.

Now brush the puff pastry pouch with the egg wash, the place in a medium oven for about 20 – 30 minutes, or until golden brown.

Allow it to cool for a bit before digging in, or, you know, blistering pain.

Serve with the crackers, apple slices et al.

Enjoy. 🙂

Clara

Gorgonzola Herb Butter & Rosemary Parmesan Butter

Let me be completely honest with you. This start of term has been rough. It always is. Exchanging endless, lazy summer days and strolls in the mountains for dark, hectic early mornings and long, long, days on your feet trying to pound English and German into teenage brains, just isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Every September, on the clock, procrastination gets the better of me. There just are no limits to what you can accomplish when you are supposed to be doing something else. I can’t get out of bed. These blankets have accepted me as one of their own and if I leave them I might lose their trust.

It takes me about a month to get things under control again. But during the up-hill month of September, things like changing into actual clothes before dashing to the grocery store don’t seem quite as urgent as they may any other month of the year.

That is, of course, the day you run into every single person you know. And you’re all “I’m usually beautiful and glamorous… but today is my day off”, and all they do is stare at your bunny slippers and hair, which chooses this precise moment to display its unique ability to defy the laws of gravity. I’m betting Newton had some bad-ass anti-frizz shampoo, or he wouldn’t have postulated such a debatable theory.

But to the point. As I announced two weeks ago, we’ll be trying our hand on butter today. These recipes are perfect for September procrastinators and start of term franticness (That is an actual word. I checked.). They’re quick, useful, delicious, and the perfect comfort food for those first crisp fall nights. Slather these butters on toast, savoury scones, English muffins or American biscuits. Place a pad on red meat or chicken, or melt it into a boring pasta dish. Trust me, this stuff is golden.

Gorgonzola Herb Butter and Rosemary Parmesan Butter

Servings: about 1 cups each

Prep time: 10 minutes

You will need:

For the Gorgonzola Herb Butter:

• 1/2 cup unsalted, softened butter
• 1/2 cup softened Gorgonzola
• 3 tablespoons fresh, or 2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 tablespoons fresh, or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 2 tablespoons fresh, or 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• a pinch of red pepper flakes, optional
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 pine nuts
• salt and pepper, to taste

For the Rosemary Parmesan Butter:

• 1 cup softened butter
• 3 tablespoons rosemary flowers, if you can get them, otherwise 2 teaspoons dried rosemary
• 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
• quality salt of choice, to taste, about 1/2 teaspoon

Let the festivities begin.

For the Gorgonzola Herb Butter, place the thyme, rosemary, parsley, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, pine nuts, salt and pepper in a mortar and grind with a pestle until roughly combined and pine nuts are broken up into little bits and pieces.

Place the butter and Gorgonzola cheese in a bowl and mix with a fork until creamy and well combined.

Add the herb-pine nut mixture and incorporate.

For the Rosemary Parmesan Butter, combine the softened butter with the Parmesan cheese until well incorporated, then mix in your salt.

I used about 1/2 a teaspoon, as the Parmesan is already plenty salty, but the level of saltiness is entirely up to you. Do use good quality salt here, though, as the taste shines out quite clearly. I used a fancy red Hawaiian salt I had on hand, but any other good sea or mineral salt.

Fold in the rosemary flowers carefully. If not using flowers, forget the “carefully” and just beat the daylights outta that butter.

These little butters freeze nicely if need be. I placed mine in an ice cube tray and stored them in the freezer for quick meals or snacks.

They’re best, in my humble opinion, simply slathered on hot toast.

Enjoy!

Clara