WORLD'S BEST BRIE-EN-CROUTE - GUARANTEED!

I am asked all the time for my brie recipe, so I figured I'd share it with the world! So here it is, the recipe (sorta) for my famous Brie - I say "sorta" because I don't measure anything. You can make it with a large wheel of cheese or a small one, for the larger, you just have to roll the pastry out larger (NOT difficult). So, you'll need a small handful of slivered raw almonds, one wheel of brie, one sheet of defrosted and unfolded Puff Pastry - I buy Pepperidge Farm; it's in the grocer's freezer by the pie crusts and that sort of stuff. Then one or two flavors of jam - I prefer the All Fruit ones - I usually use black cherry and apricot, but it's up to you. You'll need a tiny bit of butter - seriously, I think I use less than a 1/4 tsp - and some cayenne pepper and one beaten egg. Also, cover a baking sheet (I use the one from my toaster oven, it's just the right size) with tinfoil and spray it with Pam.

So, the first thing you do is preheat the oven to 375°F. Then take the almonds (measure by how many would fit in a single layer on top of your wheel of brie) and put them in a dry, preheated saute pan over medium-high heat. This happens very fast, so don't walk away - toast them and toss them until they're a lovely golden brown on all sides. Take the pan off the heat and add that tiny bit of butter - you only want to get them wet enough to hold the seasoning on - then go to town with the cayenne pepper - for this recipe, you really can't use too much - coat them very well and put them to the side to cool down a bit. The rest is basically assembly.

Put some flour down on your counter to keep the dough from sticking. Put a little more on your rolling pin and roll out the dough enough that it would fold over and completely cover the brie. Make sure there are NO holes in the dough at all. If you do get a hole in it, pinch it together and then wet the tip of your finger with a little flour to seal it up.

Take the wheel of cheese, and using a long serrated knife (I use a bread knife), shave off the top layer of the rind, you don't have to get all of it, but you want most of the top to be exposed brie. Set the cheese in the center of the dough, top it with the nuts, then a teaspoon or two (to your best judgement) of the jams.

CAREFULLY fold the dough around the brie and toppings. Pinch everything together so that it is as compact as possible, and make sure NO HOLES. At this point, move it over to the baking sheet. Then brush the beaten egg all over the entire thing, making sure that all the seams are sealed - trust me, you don't want the pastry to burst in the oven, all the cheese will run out and make a MESS. If there is excess dough, you can cut it off, make fancy designs on top of the brie, or just leave on there. If you google "Brie En Croute" you can see that people get very creative and fancy. Not in my skillset, but knock yourself out...

Put it in the oven for 25-30 minutes - you'll know when it's golden and shiny. Take it out and VERY CAREFULLY move it to your serving dish. Dig in immediately.

Some people will put it on a cracker, I don't think it needs it - the combo of the hot nuts and sweet jam and creamy cheese and flaky pastry stands on its own. Trust me. And ENJOY!

#brie #pastry #brieencroute