Wednesday, April 18, 2007

HOW TO: Make a twist to a hors d'oeuvres recipe

My mom makes this amazing Baked Brie hors d'oeuvres. It’s so good that I couldn’t even tell you how many times I have been cornered against living room furniture being asked how exactly it’s made. Having said that, you should know it’s darn good! However even masterpieces have room for improvements. The problem I have found with it is that you have to cut away the surrounding rind of the brie and cover it with brown sugar and chopped pecans around it. Then you bake it. During the baking process the brie melts quite a bit causing the entire piece to flatten. It’s still delicious, but it’s not very aesthetically pleasing (to me anyway.) Plus since the sugar surrounds the brie you always get a little more cheese than sugar when you slice. Being the busy auntie I am when I am at a family gathering I need to get the right amount of everything on my cracker and get back to my game of monopoly on the leather sofa. So check out my changes to this simple recipe:

Recipe:

1 Triangle of Brie

1 bag of candied pecans

1 cup of brown sugar

1 package of whole wheat crackers

1.) What were going to do is make individual hors d’oeuvres instead of the big triangle. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Take the crackers and spread them out on a cookie sheet.

2.) Remove the rind from the brie. Cutting the brie into long strips and then into 2x1 inch squares. Place the squares on top of the crackers

3.) Take a measuring spoon out and place ¼ teaspoon of brown sugar on top of the brie. *I found that packing the sugar into the teaspoon keeps the sugar from making a mess

4.) Place a whole candied pecan on top

5.) Bake these for about 15 minutes and serve them hot. Placing these babies out on your dining room furniture and watch them disappear into your guests raving mouths!

Notes:

*These still taste as yummy as the original

*They are less messy

*They are aesthetically more pleasing

*Next time, I would probably up the brown sugar amount to 1 teaspoon each

It’s when I enjoy doing stuff like restyling a hors d'oeuvres that I realize that being a photojournalist wasn’t my calling.

What do you think? Have you ever reinvented a recipe? I’d love to know!

Please let me know at

Irvina@furniturefromhome.com

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