Best Baked Brie NYC or A Recipe in an Emergency!

A real cheese lover will have an array of choices in their fridge at all times, but Brie is often left on the shelves at the market until Holiday Season. Usually amateur cooks don't want to waste their time making this treat because it seems difficult or because they are clueless. There are two solutions or choices you have: An easy recipe or eat it out!

An Easy Recipe: Every year I make this craved appetizer more times than I can count. Friends and family that meet for the holidays, acquaintances that I have crossed paths with throughout the years or party-goers that I have had the honor of catering for, ask me for the recipe. So I have created an easy-to-follow,quick-to-make, inexpensive and delicious Baked Brie.

Baked Brie: This recipe mixes sweet and salty with crispy and creamy. This is a Brie wrapped in a light dough with a sweet crispy shell, served with crackers as an appetizer or with a fork and knife for a party of two. Delicious!

Ingredients

• 1 bulb fresh peeled garlic
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
• 3/4 lb Brie Cheese (None of the herb filled ones)
• Pillsbury Crescent Dough

1) Roast Garlic

• Gently spritz one square of foil with cooking spray
• Place peeled garlic cloves on the foil and fold/close foil so that all garlic is covered
• Turn on oven to 350 Degrees and put in the foiled garlic (as it preheats)
• Cook Garlic until tender enough to mash with a fork (15-30 minutes)

2) Caramelized Sauce

• Place Garlic, butter and brown sugar in a sauce or saute pan
• Cook on stove set on low
• Stir occasionally, until melted, Do Not let it boil/bubble

3) Baked Brie

• Grease or Spray Glass or Metal pan with vegetable oil or and non stick spray
• Take crescent dough triangles form a square, pinch together and place flat in pan
• Place Brie wedge diagonal on dough in pan
• Poke holes or slices in brie about half way through (do not poke through completely or it will leak)
• With a fork, push roasted garlic cloves into brie holes/slices (either keep cloves whole or mash) and spoon in a little bit of sauce, but do not over flow!
• Wrap the left over square pieces surrounding the brie. Add one triangle at a time and pinch around the entire brie so that their is no Brie/innards visible.
• Brush the top and sides of the dough with the leftover sauce. If you do not have a brush use the back of a spoon. Cover with just enough sauce that it looks glossy (do not smother)
• Place pan/brie in oven on 350 degrees
• Cook for 15-20 minutes or until the dough is golden and there is a droplet or two of melted brie leaking through.
• Serve with Ritz Crackers and/or apples

Eat Out: Philip Marie NYC

There are very few restaurants that keep Baked Brie on their menu all year long. The traditional way of making this dish includes an egg wash and phyllo dough (or puff pastry) which is difficult to work with or at the least, time consuming. I have been excited to find it on a handful of menus but the dish is more often than not bland, dry or unattractive. I usually regret noticing it on the menu and wish I had gotten brie cold instead (that is always good).

I finally found a baked brie worth writing about (literally), Philip Marie in NYC-West Village. This menu item is the gourmet version of the recipe above. This specialty mixes not only sweet and salty with crispy and creamy but it is placed on a bed of slightly bitter/acidic asparagus and green roughage. You will enjoy it best the way it is served, with a fork and knife, so that you can get a full bite. The perfect blend of all flavors satisfies the entire palate and will probably leave you full enough to move straight to dessert. You will want to make a reservation for the next visit to try an entree though, everything is great!

http://philipmarie.com/documents/home.html