Thursday, December 17, 2009

Baked Brie (or, "The First Dish From My New Kitchen That I've Had the Guts to Post About")



By that, I mean my kitchen was so clogged with furniture and boxes for two weeks that I was embarrassed to let people see how I lived. And this is me we're talking about- not embarrassed that a tape measure once appeared in the background of a photo I posted, but sure as hell embarrassed of how big a tornado would have had to hit anyone else's apartment in order to make it look the way it has during my first weeks of residence here.

Luckily, this gave me a bit of time to get used to my new kitchen; including the new arrangement of equipment, the new not-so-double-wide sink, the old ottoman that newly lives underneath the new counter, and the new oven that is charmingly off by somewhere between twenty-five and fifty degrees. Cozy and romantic, I know. Let's just fantasize that it's in Paris rather than downtown Orlando, shall we?

Cue accordion music...

Tape poster of Eiffel Tower over window...

And let's bake some brie.

Baked Brie a la The Chickenless Chick's Sister-in-Law

Ingredients

1 wheel of brie
A few shots' worth of brandy
A couple handfuls of brown sugar

Directions

Heat oven to 350.

Put the brie in an overproof dish and dump most of the brown sugar on top of it. Pour the brandy over. Dust the remaining sugar over the top.

Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. The cheese usually oozes out of the wax (as you can see, I just cannot figure out my impossible oven... it was plenty soft, but I never got any oozage). Serves approximately 12 as an appetizer.


This particular recipe was inspired by my sister-in-law's, which uses Jack Daniels and is very tasty. The brandy was my husband's idea, and at this point I have no idea how it turned out, since he needed it for his office Christmas party. Would that we could scrape together the money for two wheels of brie!

Anyway, the Paris fantasy was over a little too fast, so I have another somewhat depressing activity for us: Let's pretend we're back at the Chickenless Chick's old house! Here were some of my Thanksgiving leftovers.




From top to bottom:

1. Smoothie made from plain Greek yogurt, banana, OJ, ice, and leftover cranberry relish
2. Quiche made from eggs and leftover Spicy Grand Marnier Rabe
3. Parfait layered with plain Greek yogurt, almonds, and leftover cranberry relish

If you didn't get to see my Thanksgiving recipes, you can find them here.

Did I cry during that little trip backward through time at all? Of course not. The Chickenless Chick would never cry because she's a hack who can't find work and can't afford to live in a space with more than one room. Never.

On a cheerier topic, come the Northerners' growing season my husband and I will be interning on a farm, and then I'll wonder what the big deal was about letting go of a dinky little house in the suburbs. Hooray! We've been searching Colorado for internships on a whim, being that neither of us has ever been to Colorado and we've both heard positive things. We'd like to go with a permaculture program, but would take on pretty much any learning experience with zeal. Though we have loved our time here in Orlando, and my husband loves his current job, we are both more than ready to begin this next stage of our lives. Managing a small permaculture farm of our own is the ultimate goal. Eventually I hope to open a slow food restaurant on the property as well (getting ahead of myself, since I have no idea where said property is yet). If you'd like to follow our internship adventures, be sure to bookmark Doveland Farm. Currently I don't spend as much time on it as The Chickenless Kitchen, but that will change this summer I'm sure.

In the meantime, prepare to indulge an epic slew of fantasies spun here on Livingston Street.

Addendum: The brie was a big hit at my husband's office party. I got the last tiny bite of it, and I have to say I prefer my sister-in-law's. Not enough contrast between the brandy and the brown sugar. Maybe if you served it for dessert instead of an appetizer, with wafer cookies instead of bread or crackers, it might work better.


Beat the eggs. Whip the cream. Show no mercy.


21 comments:

singerinkitchen said...

YAY! A post! I liked all the pictures of post-Thanksgiving foods. Baked brie is good stuff! I hope you get situated in your apt. soon.

Tasty Eats At Home said...

Been missing you! Glad to hear about this boozy brie, yum. and that smoothie with the leftover cranberries - genius idea.

MaryMoh said...

Everything here looks delicious to me...mmmm. Haven't tried brie. Hope to try one day. Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

Baked brie with brandy and brown sugar sure sounds good!

BikeEatSleepRepeat said...

Glad you're back! And the brie looks delicious.

Cookin' Canuck said...

Brie and brandy - that is my kind of appetizer. Welcome to your new home!

Jessie said...

very tasty! I love how unique this recipe is too

Mae said...

Woo hoo! A great celebretory meal for the new kitchen! You show post pics of it!

kathy gori said...

the brie looks great, and i'm waiting to read about your farm adventures. we moved to the country full time ourselves about 4 years ago after talking about it seems like 4 ever.

Unknown said...

I'm sure your hubby's coworkers love it so much they were fighting each other over it to get the last little scraps! : )

Shirley said...

Great pictures!

Andrea@WellnessNotes said...

Great dish! And good luck completely figuring out your new oven! :)

Also, good luck with the farming adventures; sounds like wonderful plans!

Robin, David, Simon and Leo said...

Your new kitchen looks so clean and white -- I'm envious. If you don't find a Colorado farm internship, how about interning in a mosquito-infested, hot, humid, chaotic Houston vegetable garden? You'll learn more than you ever wanted to know about eggplant...

The Chickenless Chick said...

@Vegetable Matter... Plans are well underway for the summer, but if you're serious about that, we will totally keep you in mind for next winter! There are oh so many things I always wanted to know about eggplant ;)

linda@saltyseattle said...

how i've missed the wit of the chickenless chick! that baked brie justifies the new kitchen, no? and excited about your internships- cool-i-o.

ps- do you have twitter? couldn't find a "follow" link...

The Chickenless Chick said...

@Linda... so sorry, no Twitter yet. But I just sent in my Foodbuzz publisher contract this morning, so something tells me I'll be hopping on that bandwagon soon enough.

whineaux (Dawn) said...

I am going to a gift exchange tonight and I WILL be taking this! I have a wheel of brie I was not sure what to do with.

On a side note, I'm going to be in Downtown Orlando tomorrow -- Can I treat you to an afternoon glass of wine at Dexters?

Shelly @ EC Pursuits said...

Welcome back! And what better way to celebrate than with alcohol! :)

Dani O said...

Hey there! Wow that looks awesome, and totally inspires me to be adventurous in the kitchen. My oven is off considerably as well, (about 100 degrees!) so I got this nifty thermometer from Publix for like a dollar. It hangs on the rack and helps me get the temp right. If I see one I'll snag it for ya!

-Dani O

penny aka jeroxie said...

Beautiful dishes and congrats on the kitchen. I am still in the process of cleaning and moving stuff back into it as well!

Dan Moore said...

Did you ever find a permaculture internship in Colorado?