Brie and Apricot Jam Grilled Cheese

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  Earlier in the month I reviewed The Happy Sandwich Cookbook by Jason Goldstein. You can find that review here. In the comments, Gina mentioned wanting to see the recipe for the brie and apricot sandwich, so girl, this post is for you. I have to admit, this sandwich is delicious. In fact, I have yet to find one in the cookbook that I didn’t enjoy. This is the last recipe that I’m going to give you from the cookbook, you’re just going to have to buy a copy of your own. Trust me when I tell you that you certainly will not regret it.

Brie and Apricot Jam Grilled Cheese

8 T. apricot jam or orange marmalade

¼ c. chopped roasted hazelnuts

1 wheel double cream brie, sliced

Mayonnaise

8 slices sourdough bread

 Spread mayonnaise on both sides of each slice of bread.* Spread some jam on one side of each slice of bread, then sprinkle chopped hazelnuts onto the jam. Lay some brie slices on the bread, fanning them out to cover the slice. Place another slice of bread on top. Cook in a pan on medium heat for three minutes per side.

 *I only spread mayonnaise on one side of each slice of bread. This is done in place of butter, and it facilitates the most beautiful, even, golden brown toastiness that you can imagine.

 

Found it in the Fridge Frittata

I was left with an oddball assortment of ingredients after yesterday’s Mushroom Brie Soup, so I decided to use them up and rid the various bins of other small bits by making a Frittata.  A frittata is a very quick and easy dish to prepare.  Essentially it’s a baked omelet -- the filling is really up to you -- but I find the secret to a really great frittata is topping it with lots of creamy cheese.

Found it in the Fridge Frittata

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 
8 ounces of button and Portobello mushrooms (any combination),

 thinly sliced 
1 medium fresh poblano chile, stemmed, seeded, 

thinly sliced into strips
1 medium leek, thinly sliced

½ large zucchini, thinly sliced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 large eggs 
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin (optional)
4 ounces Brie cheese, rind removed, cubed.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Heat oil in a medium nonstick ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and sauté, stirring occasionally, until just soft, about 5 minutes. Add poblano and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms and poblano are lightly browned, about 5 minutes more. Add leeks and zucchini, season with salt and pepper, and sauté an additional 3-5 minutes. 

Whisk eggs and cumin in a medium bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour eggs evenly over vegetable mixture and, using a heatproof spatula, carefully disperse ingredients to cover the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle Brie over top. Cook until bottom is set, about 2 minutes. Transfer skillet to oven and bake until eggs are just set, about 9 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit 2 minutes. 

Run heatproof spatula around edge of pan to release frittata. Slide frittata onto a warmed plate and cut into wedges to serve.

This post is linked to:

Wow Us Wednesday

Mushroom Brie Soup

I am a nut for soup, you all know that I am.   As I mentioned on the O-P Facebook page the other day, in this household we actually have a Soup du Jour.   Today it was Mushroom Brie Soup, a recipe that I adapted from one that appeared in the St.  Louis Post-Dispatch a couple of weeks ago, and is served at a restaurant called The Daily Bread in Kirkwood, MO.   I added twice as much of the leeks as called for, and pumped up the dry sherry just a bit.   It only made four servings, so the next time I make it (and I will!) I’m going to double, or maybe triple the recipe.

Mushroom Brie Soup

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter

½ cup chopped leek, white and light green parts only

1 teaspoon minced garlic

¾ cup chopped portobello mushrooms (excluding stems)

¾ cup chopped button mushrooms (including stems)

1/3 cup dry sherry

¼ cup flour

1 teaspoon sea salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

1 1/2 cups water

1 ½ cups whole milk

1 ½ cups half-and-half

1 tablespoon chicken base (such as Better Than Bouillon)

2 1/8 ounces brie, rind removed, cubed

In a large pot, melt butter on medium heat.  Add leeks, garlic and mushrooms, and sauté until mushrooms shrink to half their size.  Add sherry (it will sizzle) and cook down until mixture reduces by a third.  In a small bowl, whisk water into flour, salt, and pepper to form a slurry.  (Strain out any lumps, if needed.)  Slowly pour slurry into the pot, whisking all the while.  Add whole milk, half-and-half and chicken base and bring just to a simmer over low heat.  Remove from heat, stir in brie until melted.

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Totally Tasty Tuesdays

Try a New Recipe Tuesday

Sweet Onion Bisque

It’s Vidalia onion season. Time to scoop up as many of these incredibly tasty, sweet onions as you possibly can.  There is just nothing like the amazing taste of a Vidalia; the texture, when cooked down, is surely the culinary version of velvet. I found this recipe on the Restaurant Hospitality website.  It is the easiest soup that I've ever made, with a taste and texture that is unsurpassable when it comes to the field of onion soups.

I followed the chef’s lead and topped mine with crumbled bacon, freshly chopped chives, and a mini grilled cheese made from Asiago cheese bread and brie cheese.  I don’t know which amazed me more, the taste of the soup, or the sinful deliciousness of the grilled cheese.  Either way, this was a meal to remember, and often repeat.

Sweet Onion Bisque

Chef Tyler Brown, The Capitol Grille at The Hermitage Hotel, Nashville, TN.

Yield: 6 servings.

4 sweet onions, medium diced large

5 Tbsp. whole butter

1/2 cup heavy cream

Salt and white pepper, to taste

Smoked bacon, crumbled

Freshly snipped chives

Brie grilled cheese sandwich

Simmer onions in butter over very low heat for five hours. Add to a blender and puree until smooth; add heavy cream to taste.

Season with salt and white pepper.

  

If desired, garnish bowl with smoked bacon, chives and triangles of Brie grilled cheese sandwich.  

This post is linked to:  

Foodie Friday at Simple Living

Sunday's Best Party

Seasonal Sunday

Let’s Dish!

On The Menu Monday

Food on Friday

For more great soup recipes, I recommend this book:

I Don't Want Earl's Baby Pie

The first time I saw the movie "Waitress" I spent most of my time staring at Nathan Fillion, but still came away craving pie.  Well, pie and Nathan Fillion.  The second time I saw the movie -- a couple of weeks ago -- I looked at it from an entirely new perspective.  Sure, I still like Fillion, but with my weekly fix of "Castle" always a certainly, this time I studied those pies.  As a food blogger I'm always looking for something new and different to prepare.  These pies intrigued me.  The names alone are delightfully attention-grabbing, the combination of ingredients unique.

This evening seeking something savory over sweet, I chose to make the quiche-type pie redolent of smoked ham and Brie cheese.  Rich, creamy, and delicious I found this to be a real winner.  To be fair, I will add that while Jim liked it well enough, he dubbed it "not one of his favorites" for reasons he couldn't quite explain.  I suspect it may have been too much Brie.  He likes Brie as much as I do, but generally the savory pies I bake contain Gruyere. I think the Brie substitution just didn't quite sit right with his expectations of what a quiche should be.  Try this for yourself (cut small slices, it is very rich) and let me know what you think.  Enjoy yours while watching "Waitress," and stay tuned for more pies from the movie coming soon!

I Don't Want Earl's Baby Pie a.k.a. Bad Baby Pie

1 pie crust

4 Tbs. butter

3 slices ham

8 green onions

1 cup Brie cheese

1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

4 eggs

2 cups heavy cream

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover pie crust with foil and bake for 10 minutes. Remove foil and bake 5 minutes more. Remove crust and reduce heat to 325 degrees. Julienne ham. Chop green onions. In skillet, saute ham until edges brown. Remove and set aside. Saute onion until tender. Remove with slotted spoon and combine with ham. 

Spread sauteed ham and onion on the bottom of the baked pie crust. 

Spread Brie over ham mixture.

Sprinkle with Parmesan.

Combine eggs, cream and nutmeg; pour over cheeses. Bake 30 minutes or until set. 

Cool slightly, cut into wedges and serve.

This post is linked to:

Foodie Friday
Foodie Friday @ Little Brick Ranch
Food on Friday
Friday Favorites
Friday Fat Camp
Fantabulous Friday
I'm Lovin' It Friday