Thursday, August 14, 2014

Baked Brie with Cherries and Chocolate - 52 Church PotLuck Appetizer (or Dessert)


YUM!

Here's one of those ugly dishes that is absolutely AMAZING!  And incredibly easy to boot!

A puffed pastry cheese wheel is topped with a handful of sweet cherries and chocolate chips.  Then wrapped in store bought puff pastry. Just a few tricks to get this right and you have... SPECTACULAR!

This can be made a few hours in advance (tricks to keeping it melty warm are in the recipe); which makes this perfect for catering or any "Share a Dish" event like a potluck or family event.  It just screams, "PARTY"!

And if you want to really show off, you can make this on a grill... Just set your grill up for indirect heat, coals on one side and a free "cool" area on the other.  This will turn your grill into an oven and at the same time add a delicious smoky taste to the cheese.

A real favorite!


OK... Here's what I did...


Baked Brie with
Cherries and Chocolate


Ingredients
  • 1 Square Sheet Puff Pastry (Thawed according to package directions)
  • 1 - 8 Ounce Brie Cheese Wheel
  • 1/4 Cup Maraschino Cherries, stems removed and sliced into quarters
  • 1/4 Cup Dark Chocolate Chips (can use Semi-sweet)
  • 1 Large Egg,
  • 4 Medium Fuji Apples, slice thin
  • 1/4 Cup Lemon Juice
  • 1 "roll" package Decorative Crackers
Cooking Directions
  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Whisk the Egg (to be used as an egg wash)
  3. Flatten out the puff pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. Place the wheel of brie in the center, top with the quartered cherries and then the chocolate chips.
  4. Working from one corner of the puff pastry, bring the corner to the center of the cherry/chocolate covered Brie. Bring the opposite corner to the center and brush the seem with the egg. Repeat with remaining corners, continuing to brush the egg wash on all seems.
  5. Do the same with the center edges of the sheet, washing and pressing as you move around. This should form a decorative flour like center of the pastry. Press and brush entire wheel (plus sides) one last time.
  6. Bake for 25 minutes until the pastry has a golden brown and delicious look.
  7. While the Brie is baking, prepare a cutting board for display/serving. Slice the apples and toss in the lemon juice to prevent browning.
  8. When the Brie Wheel is ready, allow to rest for 15 minutes before cutting.
  9. If you are travelling with the Brie to be served within 5-6 hours, wrap in Aluminum Foil and immediately place in a small ice chest (no ice). The Brie will stay melty warm for several hours) Wait until just time to serve before removing and unwrapping.
  10. Serve WARM and ENJOY

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This recipe has been added to my growing list of "52 Church PotLuck Dishes"!

A list of something NEW worthy of being shown off at a neighborhood BYODish (Bring Your Own Dish) Party, a Family special occasion dinner, Any Big Holiday Gathering or of course that glorious day when you bring a dish to share with your Church family...

Ages ago, literally almost a half century ago I was listening to our pastor talking about a PotLuck Dinner. It happened to be scheduled around a church work day when we were expected to weed, polish and do general cleaning and maintenance around the church (you know, back in the day when there were no no-wax floors and church pews smelled of Old English furniture polish). I am of course paraphrasing, but as I recall the pastor said,

"A potluck, like a church requires work. At a potluck everyone is expected to contribute.. At a church no one should come empty handed and no one should leave unfed".
I will confess that in my youth I brought more store bought plastic spoons and forks than I ever brought covered dishes and crock pots of fresh made love and caring delights. But now that I have become a hobbyist cook, I occasionally am reminded of those days and people from my youth. I reminded and I do wish that I could drop a dish of some new creation on those old tables at my fondly remembered Liberty Baptist Church.  Tables covered with newspapers and loaded with God's bounty prepared with love and caring... Enjoy

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So,  I am pleased to list this as one of my Growing list of  "52 Grilling Time Secret Extras" or "52 Ways to Cook BBQ and Grilling Recipes"!!!

Well over 52 recipes actually as I just can't stop... Over 100 in one grilling season (I love to grill!). But not just leat... Drinks, Condiments (LOTS of different BBQ sauces), Drinks, Desserts... even specialty items like GRILLED Pizza, and fun shaped Watermelons.  Easy and these ideas will make you the MASTER of your Backyard Domain!

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