Cranberry Chipotle Brie

This recipe is barely a recipe since it uses prebought or premade ingredients. But it gives me a good opportunity to wish you all a happy new year … and to share a couple of holiday photos.

Both Truffle

and Ruby

had a lovely holiday season. Miss Ruby in particular was taken with our small but sturdy Christmas tree since she hadn’t seen one before. Luckily, the tree was in my sunroom (separated from the rest of the apartment by a handy door) so she didn't manage to dismantle it.

Leigh and David, my sister-in-law and brother, invited me to a New Year’s Eve party. I decided to try to replicate a baked brie with cranberries I had purchased earlier in the season at Whole Foods Market. I mixed up the flavors a bit by using my cranberry-chipotle sauce for the filling, adding a little zing to the rich brie.

Leigh and my nephew Michael helped me cut the puff pastry for the brie, and we baked it at their house so it would be warm for the guests.

Now that the new year has struck, of course, I’ll be eating more healthily. So I have a feeling that combining sugar and carbs and fat as I did here will be rare.

Still, the brie makes a lovely memory.

Happy 2012 to all……

Here Leigh puts the egg wash on the wrapped brie.

Baked Brie en Croûte with Cranberry Chipotle Sauce


Ingredients:

1 egg
1 tablespoon cold water
1 thawed puff pastry sheet (I used Pepperidge Farm; feel free to make your own if you like, but that is beyond my skill set!)
1 8-ounce round of brie (keep the rind!)
1/4 cup cranberry chipotle sauce, plus additional sauce for serving

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

In a small bowl whisk together the egg and water.

On a floured board roll the puff pastry sheet out until there is enough of it to wrap around the brie. Cut off the corners to make assembly easier. Use the corners to make small decorative pieces of pastry to lay on top of our brie. (We used snowflakes)

Slice the brie in half horizontally. Lay the first round half on the puff pastry, rind-side down.

Spread the 1/4 cup of sauce on the cheese. Top with the other half of the cheese, rind side up.

Wrap the pastry around the cheese, sealing the creases with the egg wash.

Turn the cheese over. Lay the decorative pastry on top, and brush the whole thing with egg wash.

Place the cheese, seam side down, on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat.

Bake the brie until it turns golden brown (about 15 to 20 minutes). Let it cool for a few minutes before serving.

Serve on crackers and/or fruit with additional chipotle sauce in a side dish. Serve 6 generously.

Cranberry Corner (Cranberry Chipotle Sauce)

As I type this Tuesday evening I am surrounded by red. I’ve been playing with cranberries today. I can’t resist their deep, rich color and their sweet/tart flavor.

I tried making cranberry vinegar (NOT a success–I’ll try again next Thanksgiving).

I made jellied cranberry sauce for the cranberry cream puffs my family plans to serve at a party on Friday (recipe to follow).

And I made gorgeous, delectable cranberry chipotle sauce.

I’m not serving it with the turkey on Thanksgiving; my family would rebel! (I will try it with meat or poultry one of these days, however.)

Instead, it’s scheduled to accompany crackers and soft cheese as an appetizer for Friday’s party.

Naturally, my family had to try it this evening. After all, we wouldn’t want to serve something to guests that didn’t pass our own test. And to tell you the truth, I tried making it last year with limited success. I diluted the basic cranberry and chipotle flavors with too much onion and garlic.

A cook shouldn’t mess with her cranberries!

Now that I have learned that lesson, here is the simple recipe. You don’t have to make this sauce for Thanksgiving–but it might inspire you to host your own party this weekend (or just sit at home and eat it with leftover turkey).

Have a wonderful day……….

Cranberry Chipotle Sauce

Ingredients:

1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 12-ounce bag cranberries
2 chipotles in adobo (out of a can), finely chopped, plus about 1 teaspoon adobo sauce from the can

Instructions:

In a nonreactive saucepan combine the water and sugar over medium heat, stirring constantly until the sugar dissolves. Bring the mixture to a boil.

When the sugar water is boiling stir in the chopped chipotles, sauce, and cranberries.

Return the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 10 minutes (stir occasionally).

Pour the sauce into a bowl, cover it, and let it cool to room temperature. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Makes about 2 cups.

(I told you it was easy!)