Friday, May 16, 2008

Brittany - May 2008

Brie with Apples and Onions

One baguette cut into half inch slices. (about 30)
One wheel of Brie cheese
Two firm and crunchy apples such as Granny Smith
One red onion
1/4 cup of craisins
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar
Some olive oil

Arrange the baguette slices on a cookie sheet, little coat them with olive oil and put them under the broiler just unit they start to turn golden brown. It only takes about 3 minutes. Repeat on the other side. Both sides need to be toasty. Set aside.

Cut the red onion into quarter pieces and then take each quarter piece and cut the as thinly as you can. Do the same with the apples. You can cook them two ways, I tossed them with a little olive oil and put them in a large frying pan on medium heat and cooked them for about 15-20 minutes stirring them every couple of minutes. After about 10 minutes I added the craisins. When the apples and onions are browned and soft you add the brown sugar and balsamic vinegar, stir for about 1-2 minutes and remove from heat.

Remove the wrapper from the Brie cheese and wrap it in some parchment paper or wax paper or tin foil would work. Place it in the oven pre-heated to 350 for 10-20 minutes depending on the size of your Brie. I put it in when I started the apples/onions. I checked on it every five minutes. Press down on it until the wheels starts to really be soft, this means the insides are nice and melty.

If you are serving this as an appietizer, simply pile the baguettes on a platter, with the wheel of Brie cheese and the apples/onions. And let people assemble it themselves. If you want it to be a more formal part of your dinner, lay the baguettes flat on the platter, slice a small amount of cheese onto each baguette slice and top with a small spoonful of the apples/onions.

PS the second way you can cook the apples and onions is to toss them in a zip lock baggy with the craisins, vinegar and sugar, then place them on a cookie sheet that is lined with tin foil, sprayed with Pam. Place them in the oven on 350 degrees for 20 minutes. You may need to toss them once or twice as they cook. Let me know if you do it this way if it works good.

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