Jarlsberg Monkey Bread

Can you believe that there are people out there who haven't yet tried monkey bread?! (Unless, of course, you are one of those people. Then I guess you don't know what you're missing.) When I told my friends that I had been invited to create a dish with Jarlsberg Dip for their 29 Ways to Leap into Jarlsberg Dip promotion and giveaway and that my dish would be monkey bread, I got more than one blank stare in return. 

First, they were confused by Jarlsberg Dip (as was I, before I made this dish). It's a creamy concoction featuring the wonderfully nutty and subtle Jarlsberg cheese. It's just starting to pop up in stores. I used the dip plus regular Jarlsberg cheese in my dish.

And then, more horrifyingly, they were confused by the term "monkey bread." They wanted to know why it was called that, and I couldn't give them a clear answer. (The Internets didn't help me here, either.) Once I put this bad boy in the oven and they started to smell it as it baked, though, they didn't care about the name anymore.

There was pretty much no talking after I pulled this out of the oven (unless you count the mumbles asking for the plate to be passed around the table again). I still don't think I've adequately answered their questions about the term monkey bread...

One note: When I made this, I only sprinkled some of the grated Jarlsberg in the bottom of the pan. When it came time to eat, the extra-cheesy bits were my favorite, and I was sad that I hadn't incorporated more into the final dish. Below I have amended my recipe to include more grated cheese, which would make your monkey bread look a little different than mine.

Jarlsberg Monkey Bread
4 Tbsp butter
2 cloves garlic, sliced
2 lbs pizza dough (I used store-bought)
1 package Jarlsberg Dip
3-4 ounces Jarlsberg cheese, grated

In a small pan, heat butter over medium heat until melted. Add garlic and heat until garlic begins to brown. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Brush interior of a bundt pan with garlic butter and set aside.

Divide dough into even pieces about the size of a golf ball. Flatten each ball and place a small dollop of Jarlsberg Dip in the center. Pinch together the edges of the dough around the dip to seal closed. Brush with melted butter and roll in grated cheese before positioning in the prepared bundt pan. Repeat with remaining dough. Once all the dough has been used, cover the pan and let rest on the counter for 30-60 minutes.

While the monkey bread is resting, preheat the oven to 400°. Bake for 25-35 minutes, or until the top is nicely golden. The monkey bread will rise a lot in the oven. Cool slightly before inverting onto a plate. Serve hot!

Jarlsberg wants you to Leap into Jarlsberg Dip too by sharing how you would use Jarlsberg Dip. The winner of the giveaway will win a tailgate tote stocked with Jarlsberg Lite Cheese, new Jarlsberg Cheese Dip, Snofrisk (a Norwegian style cream cheese), crispbreads, honey cremes, and honey vinegar. More details are available on their website.

Full Disclosure note: I was compensated for my time and groceries by Jarlsberg, but my opinions are all mine.

Fried Olive Salad Toppers

Like I said, olives are delicious and make me happy. I couldn't choose just one January Kitchen PLAY recipe featuring Lindsay Olives, so I tried a second one for kicks. Because what's not to love about CHEESE-STUFFED FRIED OLIVES?! Dear god, they're wonderful.

I followed Fake Ginger's recipe, subbing in feta for roquefort and adding a small oregano leaf with the cheese. I ate a few of these straight out of the fryer and of course loved them, but they needed something. I grabbed some arugula from the fridge and tossed it lightly with a little lemon vinaigrette (basically just 1 part lemon juice, 2 parts olive oil), then perched a few olives on top. What a perfect match! The bitter greens stood up to the saltiness of the olives, the tender leaves contrasted with the crispiness of the fried bits, and the unctuous of the olive oil and the olives tied everything together. So while these make a very tasty amuse bouche as Fake Ginger intended, I loved them far more as delicious little croutons on my salad.

Cheese-Stuffed Olives
1 can Lindsay black olives, drained and patted dry
2 ounces feta
handful small oregano leaves
1 cup flour
1 egg, beaten
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
about 2 cups canola or vegetable oil, for frying

Stuff each olive with a piece of feta and an oregano leaf. (If the cheese is very crumbly, just stuff in as much as you can.)

Heat oil in a tall-sided pot over medium heat. When the oil is hot, work a few olives at a time: roll in flour, dip in egg, then coat with panko before adding to the hot oil. Cook until golden on one side, then flip and cook until golden. Cool on a paper towel-lined plate. Repeat with the rest of the olives. Salt lightly before serving.

Berry Bellinis and Warm Raspberry Brie

On Friday night, I took part in my first Twitter party that was more than just a bunch of people discussing something for an hour. Driscoll's Berries and chef Rick Rodgers hosted the event, where tons of bloggers cooked holiday dishes based around raspberries, then watched (and discussed) as Chef Rodgers demonstrated the recipes live.

I headed to my friend Ann's house (where I do most of my cooking) and started prepping in the afternoon. The "party" started at 8, so we started mixing the drinks around just before, then settled in to a meal of appetizers and dessert. Five recipes were offered to us, and I cooked four of them (leaving out the wild rice, because I've never been a big fan of the stuff). We had a few rounds of berry bellinis, a fantastic dish of warm brie with raspberries and pistachios, roasted acorn squash with a raspberry sauce, and panna cotta topped with balsamic raspberries. We listened to the live chat on and off while discussing whatever geeky things were on our mind and stuffing our maws full of the brie (we polished off that dish in record time, especially impressive because one of the four of us doesn't even eat brie). When all was said and done, I came away with two recipes that I LOVED and intend to make again.

Berry Bellinis
1 oz St. Germaine (elderflower liqueur)
0.5 oz lemon juice
0.5 oz simple syrup
4 raspberries
3 oz dry sparkling wine

In a cocktail shaker, combine St. Germaine, lemon juice, simple syrup, and berries. Top with ice and shake vigorously.  Pour champagne into a flute, then top with St. Germaine mixture. Garnish with a raspberry.

Warm Brie with Raspberries and Pistachios
1/2 cup shelled pistachios
1 small wheel of Brie, top rind sliced off
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 package (6 ounces) raspberries

Preheat oven to 350°.

In a small saucepan, toast pistachios over medium heat, tossing occasionally so they don't burn. Transfer to a plate.

Place Brie, cut side up, on a small glass baking dish (I use a small pie dish, so it can go straight from the oven to the table). Bake until warm and top is softened but not oozing, about 15 minutes.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, stir together honey, vinegar, and rosemary. Add raspberries and pistachios and gently fold the sauce over them. Pour raspberry mixture over the top of the cheese and serve immediately (I like water crackers, my friends preferred slices of baguette).

Full Disclosure note: The berries were provided via free coupons from Driscolls. I paid for all the other ingredients, though - well, the ones I didn't swipe from Ann's pantry.

Restaurant Week Lunch at the Melting Pot

Can I start by saying that it's really hard to take a picture of fondue? Maybe not as hard as soup, but pretty damn close.

Yesterday, my friend Ann and I acted like ladies who lunch and headed to the Melting Pot in downtown Boston to enjoy a leisurely meal, mostly because the Melting Pot was still running their $20 Restaurant Week promotion, and who can pass up that kind of deal? The RW lunch menu includes salad, entree, and dessert, and we added on a cheese course (how could you skip that?!) for only an additional $6 each. I know a lot of people bitch about how RW is a pretty bad deal at most places (I'm amongst that wall of sound), but this is one deal that is well worth it.



Like I said, we added a cheese course because it's sacrilegious (sacrilicious?) to go for fondue and not get cheese. We tried the special of the month, Fondue a la France, which included brie, fontina, gruyere, and raclette, plus bacon, onions, white tuffle butter, and a sprinkle of fresh chives. This was the best fondue I've had at the Melting Pot (and I've tried a number of them) hands down. Bacon! White truffle! Brie! This was serious not-messing-around fondue.

Our salads came just as we were finishing the last of the cheese. I had gone with the Caesar, and was greeted by a pleasant surprise of parmesan-encrusted pine nuts as a garnish. The pine nuts were on the sweet side and didn't quite work with the salad, but I would have liked a whole bowl of them for a snack.

For RW, the entree is cut down in size, but in reality, it's really all you need. We both chose the beef plate, which included six pieces of beef teriyaki and six artichoke and spinach ravioli, as well as a pile of fresh veggies. I probably ate my weight in broccoli, but I figured that was a good idea knowing there was more decadence to come. I love the leisurely pace that this course takes as you wait for your meat to cook in the boiling boullion.

Dessert was, of course, wonderful. What's not to love about dipping sweets in molten chocolate? We opted for dark chocolate with a shot of Bailey's (a favorite of both of us), and surprisingly, neither of us touched the cheesecake - we opted for more strawberries and rice krispy treats instead.

As I said, lunch at the Melting Pot is one of the rare occasions when Restaurant Week works well.

Za'atar-Crusted Chicken with Pomegranate Tabouli

A few months ago, I heard the rumbling about a new site that would pair food bloggers with products in order to create unique recipes. Little did I know that I would be joining in the fun that is Kitchen Play so soon!

I was sent a link to MySpiceSage.com, this month's sponsor, with the instructions that I was to pick out something to use for an entree. Immediately, my mind was racing. With an entire spice store at my fingertips, how was I to narrow down my recipes? I wasn't sure what to do, so in the end, I just picked a wild (and not often used) spice, za'atar, figuring it could use a little love, and started brainstorming.

Za'atar is a blend of dried herbs (MySpiceSage.com uses thyme), sesame seeds, and salt. There are as many variations on this blend as there are cooks who use it (and can include oregano, marjoram, sumac, savory, cumin, coriander, fennel, or caraway), but those three ingredients are what makes za'atar za'atar. I opted to add some sumac to my mix to give it a lighter, fruitier flavor. Of course, if you like the base flavor of the spice mix, the real fun comes in blending your own to get exactly the flavors you like.

When it came to actually using the za'atar, though, I was a little stumped. The only place I've ever seen it used was on bread, much like foccacia, at my local Armenian grocery store - definitely not something to make an entree out of. So I opted to stick with the Armenian flavors and pull out a little trick that my mother had used in my childhood.

Whenever my mother and I would go through the effort of making boreg (either sou boreg or the crispy version that is much like spanakopita triangles), there would inevitably be leftover cheese filling. Instead of just throwing it away, she would combine it with chicken and bake it up for dinner, like a nice little preview of the special-occasion appetizers we had slaved over all day. I don't know why I never thought to ask her just to make that for dinner without having to go through all the other cooking.

So here we are: crazy Middle Eastern spice + childhood memories = a dish that is perfect for any dinner party (or any dinner, really). I paired the chicken with a winter-y version of tabouli, incorporating pomegranate seeds, more sumac (which may be my new favorite spice after this challenge), and just a hint of spicy cayenne pepper (ok, I added more than just a hint to my final dish, but you don't have to go as far as me). The chicken reheats wonderfully, and the tabouli is almost better the second day, so don't worry about having leftovers around.

You can join in the fun of the Progressive Party and earn a chance to win $100 by recreating this and other recipes at home. Check out the contest page of Kitchen Play for more details.

Za'atar-Crusted Chicken
2 cups (about 8 ounces) shredded muenster cheese
1/2 cup cottage cheese
2 Tbsp chopped parsley
6 chicken breasts
1/2 cup za'atar
1/2 cup panko
1 Tbsp sumac
2 egg whites

Preheat oven to 350°. Coat a 13x9 glass baking dish with cooking spray and set aside. Combine shredded muenster cheese, cottage cheese, and parsley, stirring well to evenly distribute, and set aside.

Place one chicken breast between two sheets of wax paper and, using the flat end of a meat tenderizer, a rolling pin, or the flat bottom of a pan, pound the chicken until it is uniformly flat. Don't hit it too hard or the meat will tear. Place 1/6th of the cheese mixture in the center of the flattened chicken and pull the sides up around the cheese. Use toothpicks to secure the chicken closed. Repeat with the remaining chicken.

In a shallow bowl, combine za'atar, panko, and sumac. Dip chicken in egg white, then za'atar mixture, making sure to evenly cover all the sides. Place chicken in the prepared baking dish, seam-side down. Bake for 40 minutes. Make sure to remove the toothpicks before serving.

Pomegranate Tabouli
1 cup fine bulgur wheat
2 cups hot water
1 tsp salt
1 bunch parsley, finely chopped
1 Tbsp mint, finely chopped
1/4 cup lemon juice*
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp sumac
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or more to taste)
1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
salt and pepper

Place bulgur wheat in a large bowl and pour in water. Stir in salt and cover with a kitchen towel. After 30 minutes, drain off any excess water. Stir in parsley and mint. Whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, sumac, and cayenne and pour over the salad. Add pomegranate seeds and salt and pepper to taste; mix well to combine. Best served at room temperature.

*Microwave your lemon for about 10 seconds to get more juice out of it - 1/4 cup juice should be about one lemon.

Kolokithopita

The problem with blogging, as with so many other things, is that the longer you're away from it, the harder it is to get back into it. For literally six weeks, I've come to my computer almost daily with the intent to blog, but every day that passed and it didn't happen, the less likely I was to actually do it. Well, here I am, having had to create a post for a special assignment (you'll read all about it on December 1st), which managed to get me back into the blogging mindset (hopefully).

That doesn't mean that I haven't cooked anything in six weeks. Quite the opposite, in fact, and I kept taking pictures and jotting down recipes with the hope that it would kick-start some writing. In fact, one week I roasted a pumpkin (ok, a buttercup squash, which has more flavor than a sugar pumpkin) and used it in just about everything I made.

That was how I stumbled across the wonder that is kolokithopita. I was searching for pumpkin recipes and came across montcarte's recipe from last fall. Most importantly, it was a savory use of pumpkin puree, which is much less common than sweet uses. Less importantly, but still intriguing to me, it involved feta cheese (really, any cheese would make me happy) and phyllo dough (which always produces impressive results).

I ended up making this twice in one week because it was so good. The first time, I could barely hold myself back from cutting into it - I wanted to wait until dinner, but instead I declared it an appetizer (hours early?) and just dug in. I'm glad I didn't wait - the crispy exterior and the creamy interior, the natural sweetness of the pumpkin and the salty goodness of the cheese made this a pretty perfect pumpkin dish. At the end of the week, I was invited to a housewarming party and thought it would make a good side dish. The kolokithopita travels well and is good warm, room-temperature, or cold out of the fridge. Plus, it's fun to say.

Don't let the use of phyllo dough scare you off. I know a lot of people are a bit frightened of using it, as it is known to be a somewhat cantankerous dough. This is a good recipe to learn on, though, since it's got to be roll and twisted. The dough WILL rip in this recipe, but it's not a problem since the focus isn't on laying it perfectly flat (like it is in recipes like baklava). Plus, this recipe uses very little phyllo (less than half a box), so if you screw up a lot, you still have more than enough to get the job done.

Kolokithopita
1 stick butter, melted
2 cups pumpkin puree (I like ambercup or buttercup squash, but canned works just as well)
3/4 cup crumbled feta (about 4 oz)
2 eggs
1 tsp nutmeg
1 Tbsp honey
phyllo dough

Preheat oven to 350°. Brush an 8-inch round cake pan with butter and set aside.

Mix together pumpkin, feta, eggs, nutmeg, and honey. Stir well to combine.

Lay one sheet of phyllo dough on work surface and brush with melted butter. Lay a second sheet of dough directly on top of first sheet and brush with more butter. Lay filling in a thin strip along one of the long sides (but don't go all the way to the edge or the filling will squeeze out). Gently roll the dough away from you, forming a long snake. Arrange the snake inside the baking pan, curving it to fit the curve of the pan. Brush the exterior of the snake with more butter. Repeat with remaining dough and filling until the pan is filled (make sure to brush each curve of the dough with butter as you add it to the pan - the butter is what makes it flaky). Bake for 45 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Blue Moon Bistro, Dennis

I spent the week of my birthday on Cape Cod, which has become something of a tradition. On the weekends, we don't leave our neighborhood - it's not worth fighting the traffic - but during the week, we explore a bit afield. One day, we drove up 6A to the Cape Cod Museum of Art and a visit to my cousin's restaurant, Blue Moon Bistro.

Blue Moon Bistro has been open for a few years now, but I get to spend so little time down the Cape, I hadn't been able to stop by (although I have sent my blogging friends before). I'm glad we finally took the time, though, because it was an amazing meal that we're still talking about a couple of weeks later.

Note: My cousin Lisa usually does front of the house stuff, and her husband Peter is the chef, so I'm reviewing family here. But really, if I didn't like my meal, I just wouldn't write about it. While we were eating, the tables on both sides of us talked about how much they enjoyed the restaurant, and they were all repeat customers.

As we perused the menu, the bread basket was brought out. If I were to rank restaurants by how good their bread basket was (why don't I? This may be my new rating system), this would definitely be in the top five. Crispy breadsticks, crunchy cheese-topped crostini, and soft rosemary focaccia was served with a white bean dip and a duck liver pate with wine gelee. This and a cocktail alone would have equaled a pretty perfect dinner for me. But no, we made our choices and ordered our meals.

I started with a half order of lobster ravioli and would have eaten another whole order for my entree. I've ordered lobster ravioli at a lot of places, and I often find the actual lobster flavor lacking - not so here. I'm not sure what else was inside the pasta, but it tasted like lobster without anything getting in the way. It certainly didn't taste like filler. The pasta was lightly dressed in a lemony butter sauce that complimented the filling and that I sopped up with more bread.

My mother went with a goat cheese and beet salad, topped with candied walnuts, that she couldn't say enough good things about, and my dad ordered off the pre-theater menu, which is a great deal, and got a tomato soup.

Since we were on the Cape and Peter focuses on local ingredients as much as possible, I figured fish would be a good bet. I went with the local haddock, topped with olive tapenade and giant capers, and served with veggies and risotto-style wild rice. The fish itself was mild, so the olives gave it an unctuousness that would otherwise be missing. The vegetables were perfectly cooked and still had some body to them, and the rice - oh the rice. I'm not a big fan of rice (ask my mother how many times I've made pilaf, like the good Armenian girl I should be), but apparently cook it risotto-style and I'm in love. I scraped the plate clean. (My parents went with the sea bass and the beef tenderloin, but I was a little too focused on my own meal to pay much attention to theirs.)

I had planned on ordering dessert even though I was getting pretty full, because hey, it was my birthday! My father's prix fixe meal came with two little chocolate tarts. But just as we were discussing dessert, Peter sent out a cheese plate for us. I don't usually think of cheese as a dessert (unless we're talking about Fiore di Nonno's fig burrata, which is totally a dessert), but this was completely satisfying. As with most of the meal, many of the ingredients were local. The aged cheddar (back) and the goat cheese (black rind next to the flowers) were not too challenging, as cheeses go, but were just perfect. I loved the gooseberries (still in their husks) and the honeycomb that served as garnishes. This cheese plate was a main topic of conversation for two days after this meal. I don't know if there is normally a cheese plate on the menu, but there should be - the presentation was gorgeous and allowed the local ingredients to shine.

If Blue Moon Bistro were in Boston, they'd be getting their fair share of buzz, especially in the use of local ingredients and work with local farms, but the food scene on the Cape is much quieter. If you find yourself mid-Cape anytime (they're open year round), definitely make a stop for dinner.

All Star Sandiwch Bar, Cambridge

OK, this review is a little late, but better late than never, right?

"Sandwich" is a pretty vague term, encompassing just about anything put between two pieces of bread. You could put a gourmet meal in between that bread, and it would still be given the name "sandwich." And yet, when people say "let's go out for lunch and grab a sandwich," I'm left cringing. I am greatly adverse to cold cuts, which is the staple of most sandwich shops.

So when I was asked to try out the All Star Sandwich Bar in Inman Square, I wasn't sure what to expect. The restaurant was started in 2006 by Chris Schlesinger, of the nearby East Coast Grill, so it was clear that there would be something a little nicer than cold cuts in the kitchen. Two years ago, brothers Kosta and Johnny Diamantopoulos took over, and they're doing a hell of a job. The space is brightly painted, and everything is made fresh on premises.

I pored through the menu, trying to decide what to order. I really wanted a hot dog (they serve Pearl dogs, the best around), but I figured that wouldn't be a fair assessment of what the restaurant serves. The menu is only roughly half of what is available daily - specials are always available. I ended up going with the (poorly-named) Cheese sandwich, which includes not just Monterey Jack cheese, but also bacon, avocado, roasted tomatoes, watercress, and spicy sweet corn aioli, all on scali bread. It sounds like a lot of clashing flavors, but everything went very well together (even if it's not the most photogenic sandwich thanks to the mushing of the avocado, aioli, and tomatoes). I was really impressed with the quality of the ingredients - this is no sandwich slapped together by the guy behind the sneeze guard at Subway.

Kosta wanted to make sure we bloggers (who included Jackie of Leather District Gourmet, Rachel of Fork It Over, Boston!, and Rich of The Passionate Foodie) tried their cornbread, which had just come out of the over. It's amazing how many variations of cornbread are out there, and I'm happy to say that this is one of the best cornbreads I've had - soft with a crisp exterior, moist, and actually tasting like corn. The cornbread comes with the chili, but I'd be happy to order a piece for dessert.

Sandwiches at the All Star Sandwich Bar run around $9, which seems a little steep when you think of it as "just a sandwich place." But when you think about the amount of ingredients that go into these sandwiches, and the fact that they're about 10 times tastier than something you could get at any sub shop, the price is more reasonable. Plus, there's a jar of oreos on the counter, so dessert is free :)



Full Disclosure note: My lunch at All Star Sandwich Bar was provided free-of-charge.

Friday I'm In Love... with Brie de Lyon

Brie is probably my favorite cheese (I know, there are so many, it's hard to pick just one!). For years, I was accustomed to the stuff from the supermarket, and I loved it because it was creamy and decadent. Oh, I had no idea what I was thinking.

When I was a teenager, on a visit to France, I had some amazing, runny brie that was miles above (streets ahead?) what I'd had at home, but I chalked it up to foods being better in their countries of origin (after a similar trip to Greece, I wouldn't eat feta at home for months).

So when my friend Ann picked up this brie, I figured it would be just like any of the other creamy but indistinguisable cheeses out there. But no, this stuff is completely different - even creamier, with just enough bite to make it interesting and just a little bit of nuttiness. We've taken to calling it "crack brie", because we all crave it like crazy and will go through a piece like piranhas going at a cow.

But where does this magical brie come from? Wasik's in Wellesley, a fantastic cheese shop with a staff that knows more about the selections in the store than anyone should ever know about cheese. This brie, called "Brie" de Lyon (in apostrophes because real brie comes from Brie, while this is from Lyon), is a little more than what you get in the supermarket but well worth the money. It goes especially well on slices of baguette with a little bit of fig jam (don't worry, you can get all of this at Wasik's), but it's just as tasty without any accompaniment.

Fruity Oaty Bars Make A Man Out Of A Mouse

Around the time that we were planning our Dollhouse party, our friend April, who lives in LA but visits Boston every year around her birthday, said that she wanted a Whedon-verse themed party for her birthday. We spent the intervening months brainstorming party ideas based not just on Dollhouse, but also Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, and my beloved Firefly.


I knew from the very beginning that I wanted to make Fruity Oaty Bars, which has a commercial (above) that unlocks seemingly-crazy River's potential in Serenity. I brainstormed ideas for ages - I didn't want to just dye something with colors to make it match the commercial. I ended up combining a few recipes to include both fruit and oats, as well as to keep the colorful look.

The resulting Fruity Oaty Bars are pretty tasty and would make a great breakfast snack. The texture is similar to a muffin, and it's not terribly sweet. The blueberry and strawberry sections had the strongest taste, while the mango and kiwi sections just tasted vaguely fruity. I would make this again (probably with just a single fruit) just to have on hand for breakfast.

Of course, I had to wrap them individually to make them look like something shiny you would buy in the Core planets. I wanted to wrap them in gold foil, which I thought I had on hand but didn't. I opted, instead, for a copy of the local Chinese newspaper, which I grabbed from a newspaper box on my corner, and added a picture of the Fruity Oaty Bar Girls that I grabbed off the internet.

Fruity Oaty Bars
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups old-fashioned oats
6 Tbsp butter, melted
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/3 cups fruit puree (your choice - I used 1/3 cup strawberry, 1/3 cup blueberry, 1/3 cup kiwi, and 1/3 cup mango)
food coloring (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°. Line a glass baking dish with parchment paper, letting the edges overhang so you can remove the baked bars easily. I used a 7x12 baking dish, which seems like an odd size, so use something that is relatively long and narrow.

Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and oats and mix well. In a separate bowl, combine melted butter, eggs, vanilla, and sugar and mix well. Place each fruit puree in a different mixing bowl and divide butter/eggs/sugar mixture evenly between them; mix well (and add food coloring if you want the colors to be bold after baking). Divide flour/oat mixture evenly amongst the bowls and mix until all the dry ingredients are moistened.

Arrange the colored batters in long, thin stripes down the baking dish. The batter will be thick, so it shouldn't be too difficult to get the colors to line up next to each other. Make for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick stuck into the center comes out clean. Remove from pan and cool completely before cutting.

To serve, cut into slices, making sure to include some of each fruit.

Of course, there was more to the Whedon-verse party than Fruity Oaty Bars. Everyone came in costume - we had Inara, Kaylee, Simon, River, Jayne, Drusilla, Faith trapped in Buffy's body, Faith, and the Man himself, Joss Whedon. We enjoyed Some Kind of Hot Cheese, burgers from Double Meat Palace, and Simon's birthday cake (in miniature, above). We also had tons of themed drinks: Kaylee's Gussied-Up Engine Wine Coolers (strawberry juice, vodka, and riesling), Lorne's Seabreezes (grapefruit juice, vodka, cranberry juice, wedge of lime), Mudder's Milk (depending on who was drinking, it was either beer or Baileys), Wonderflonium (bright greet kiwi strawberry fruit punch and gin, although any bright green juice would work), and my favorite, Badger's Finest (iced tea, applejack, and slices of green apple).

What would you include for a Joss-themed party?

Spring Lemon Ricotta Pasta

I have lived in Boston my entire life, and yet, I still can't get used to the weather. Ninety-plus degrees and sunny during the Aquapocalypse, now so rainy and cold that I all I want to do is set up camp on my couch, crawl under a blanket, and wait for the 5+ hours of Lost-related television on Sunday night. It's days like these that leave me wanting pasta.

But I'm tired of the heavy pasta dishes that get me through the winter. Lasagna and meat sauces aren't very spring-y. But herbs (albeit not from my own garden yet) and lemon combine with creamy ricotta cheese in a dish that lets me remember that better weather is yet to come.

I threw this dish together on a whim and couldn't be happier with how it turned out. The herbs and lemon are what give the exciting Spring-y flavor, while the creaminess from the cheese is what you want from a comforting pasta bake. I used gemelli for the pasta, but you can use any short shape that is twisty or has a hole, so it can grab the sauce. The recipe is a bit loose on exact amounts because it's so easy to make exactly how you want - want it less creamy? Use less ricotta. More herbs? Go for it. No meat? It's tasty without it (I made it both ways).

Lemon Ricotta Pasta Bake
1 pound gemelli pasta
16 ounces ricotta cheese
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1/4 cup finely chopped basil
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
2 ounces prosciutto, torn into small pieces
salt and pepper
Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350°. Cook pasta according to package.

While pasta is cooking, combine ricotta, lemon zest, basil, parsley, prosciutto, and salt and pepper (to taste) in a large bowl. Mix well until incorporated. When pasta is done cooking, drain and immediately add to ricotta mixture and toss to coat. Pour mixture into a baking dish, top with a good layer of grated parmesan cheese, and pour lemon juice over the top. Bake 15-20 minutes. If the top doesn't brown while cooking, turn the broiler on for a few minutes at the end until it turns a golden brown.

Cheesy Pan Rolls with Ile de France Chaumes

I think I'm like a lot people - I love cheese, but there are probably millions of varieties out there besides the ones I'm familiar with. I could probably count the types of cheese I buy on both hands. So when Ile de France offered to send me Chaumes, something I'd never heard of, I jumped at the chance.

Chaumes is a bit unique, but it's not wholly unlike other cheeses that I was familiar with. It's soft and creamy, much like brie (a tad harder, though), and has a bit of bite like a sharp cheddar. It has a great nutty flavor and a smell that is harsher than its taste. The orange rind is edible, but I wasn't wild about it.

The package arrived when I was babysitting my nephew and nieces, and they were eager to know what was inside. Luckily, they were more interested in the bubble wrap than the cheese itself, and I quickly stashed my goods in the fridge while they weren't looking.

Flash-forward to last night, when I offered to make dinner for my friends who were busy playing Dungeons and Dragons (I've played with them, but I'd rather be cooking than rolling the dice). I knew the group liked bread and cheese, and I was already making a cheesy pasta dish for dinner, so I decided to experiment with the Chaumes I had been sent and make rolls. The resulting bread had everyone clamoring for the extras, and there was discussion of when I could make them again. Fact is, they were so simple, it's only a matter of getting my hands on some more Chaumes!

Cheesy Pan Rolls with Chaumes
1 lb pizza dough (I used the bagged stuff from the supermarket)
8 oz Chaumes cheese
1/3 cup finely chopped parsley
olive oil
Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400°. Brush olive oil onto the bottom and sides of a square baking dish.

Divide dough into 16 equal pieces, and cut cheese into 16 equal pieces. Roll each piece of dough into a ball and flatten slightly in your hand. Sprinkle a few pieces of parsley on the dough, top with a piece of cheese, and wrap the dough around the cheese, pinching the edges to seal. Place the roll seam-side down in the pan. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Brush finished rolls with olive oil and sprinkle remaining parsley over the top. Grate parmesan over the top (as much as you'd like). Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Cheap Eats: Burtons Grill

If the thought of huge holiday meals has you looking for smaller dishes to tide you over between parties, Burtons Grill has a new bar menu to keep your stomach and your wallet full. Each plate is priced at $4.95 and holds a generous serving. Two plates would definitely make a decent meal.

Although there are only five choices on Burtons' Small Plates menu, the options are diverse enough that anyone could find something to like. The warm goat cheese salad was this Bostonist's favorite - two disks of cheese, coated in crunchy panko breadcrumbs, and a well-dressed spinach and bacon salad. We also enjoyed the scallop crostini (above) - thin slices of warm scallop on crispy bread with a drizzle of lemon cream sauce. The buttermilk-battered fried feta was the most decadent of the bunch - who eats 8 or so ounces of feta at one time? - but if you're looking for a salty, crispy treat, this is the one to order. The BLT was on the small side (although well constructed), but the huge pile of onion strings on the side more than made up for its size. Finally, the firecracker shrimp were a little too spicy for us, but boasted well-cooked shrimp, a crispy exterior, and plenty of hot Buffalo sauce.

Burtons Grill offers their Small Plates menu everyday from 3pm until close (10pm Sundays, 11pm every other day). They are located at 1363 Boylston Street, near Fenway Park.

Originally published on Bostonist.

Bar Snacks at the Regal Beagle

On Monday night, I met up with my friend Melody and the wonderful Erin of Erin Cooks for a screening of Babette's Feast at the Coolidge Corner Theatre. I felt like a bad food writer for never having seen it before. Of course, we couldn't go into a movie about food without eating something first, so we decided to meet up at the newly opened Regal Beagle just down the street.

The Regal Beagle is a warm and homey spot - the lush red wallpaper makes it very cozy. The layout is a little counter-intuitive, with the bar and lounge area in the back, but it also makes for more secluded drinking.

I tried a couple of the cocktails, which were strong and tasty, but the food was the real winner. We stuck to the bar bites menu and loved every bit.

The crab rangoon empanadas were a delightful twist on the typical crab rangoon - the dough was light and crispy, and although the filling was a little thin (it could have used some chunks of crab or even celery), it was quite flavorful. They were also the most expensive thing we tried, at $8 for 3. The other dishes were a much better value.

I loved the tempura sweet potato fries, which weren't like sweet potato fries anywhere else. The potatoes were cut into thick chunks and were soft and sweet inside the light tempura batter. Five dollars for a heaping plate was fantastic. The dates, stuffed with gorgonzola and wrapped in bacon, were very rich and perfect for sharing (and were only a dollar each!). The pumpkin hummus was also a treat, a little sweeter than your typical hummus and topped with finely chopped cucumber, red onion, and feta and served with crispy pita chips.

I'm glad to see an interesting place like the Regal Beagle in Coolidge Corner, and I think it's a great option for a bite before a movie. I'd love to see even more variety on the bar bites menu, as the entrees are a little higher priced than I thought they would be (they hover around $20).

Phyllo-Wrapped Brie with PAMA Drizzle

Happy Pomegranate Month! If you're seeing a lot of pomegranate recipes out there, it's because Pomegranate Month is in full swing (not to mention that pomegranates are just plain delicious).

PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur is celebrating Pomegranate Month with a recipe contest. The only requirement for entries? Using 3 tablespoons of PAMA. Thankfully, the sweet and tart liqueur pairs well with a lot of flavors.

My first entry, Phyllo-Wrapped Brie with PAMA Drizzle, is kind of a mishmash of ideas. I wanted to use phyllo dough because it always looks fancy, and it's pretty easy to use (even if a lot of people are scared of using it - just give it a shot!). I figured a version of individual brie en croute would be a great appetizer - I love the idea of brie en croute, but I don't like the idea of putting pastry on top of a cracker. This eliminates the need for crackers, making the entire thing hand-held. As for the PAMA sauce, I kept thinking of an amazing steak I had in Italy, covered in a balsamic vinegar reduction that tasted like rich chocolate. A thick sauce like that, but with more fruity flavor from the PAMA, seemed like a perfect pair to the pastry.

Apparently I hit this one out of the park. Our usually loud and boisterous group didn't make a sound when these finally hit the table. The one vegetarian, who ate these as her main coarse, was literally scraping the plate clean of every last drop of sauce. I'm so glad these worked out well, contest or no, and I have a feeling these will be on my holiday table in the next few months. If nothing else, the combination of PAMA and balsamic vinegar makes a sauce that would be killer on just about anything.


Phyllo-Wrapped Brie with PAMA Drizzle
1 lb. phyllo dough
10 oz. brie, cut into 10 long slices
2 sticks butter, melted
pomegranate seeds
1/2 cup PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Unroll phyllo dough and cover with a damp cloth to prevent from drying. Lay one sheet of phyllo dough on work surface and brush generously with melted butter. Lay a second sheet of phyllo dough on top of the first and brush with butter. Place one slice of brie lengthwise along the bottom edge of the dough and top with pomegranate seeds. Roll the brie in the dough two turns, fold in the sides to seal the ends, then continue rolling the brie. Trim the end to lie neatly beneath the pastry, and place seam-side down on a baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough and brie. Brush completed pieces with butter.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. While the pastries are baking, prepare the sauce by combining the PAMA Liqueur, balsamic vinegar, and salt together in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until thick and syrupy.

To serve, drizzle sauce over the pastries and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds.

*NOTE* If these are too big, you can make smaller ones, but use just one sheet of phyllo - two might overwhelm a smaller piece of cheese.

Cooking with Harbor Sweets

Twitter has led me to some of the coolest events as of late. A while ago, I saw a tweet from Harbor Sweets, an amazing local candy company, announcing a cooking class that they would be hosting in their factory. Cooking with Sweet Sloops, my favorite of their chocolates, made with almond toffee crunch, white and dark chocolate, and pecans? Sure - imagine the amazing cookies you could make with them! But no, the class was going to focus on a full menu of recipes, not just desserts. When I saw the words "Sweet Sloops Pad Thai," I knew I had to go.

So last Saturday, after getting more than a little lost, we arrived at Harbor Sweets' factory in Salem only a few minutes late. The small room was packed with tables and people, and we squeezed into our seats as the chef starting talking. The afternoon was led by Chef Bill, a local personal chef, and he taught us a lot about cooking with humor and verve.

We started with dates stuffed with goat and gorgonzola cheeses, bacon, and Sweet Sloop Crunch. I thought I wouldn't like these, but surprisingly, this was my favorite dish of the day. The saltiness of the cheese and bacon were married perfectly with the sweetness of the candy and the dates, and the bacon and the Sweet Sloops added plenty of texture to an otherwise soft dish. These would be perfect for a holiday appetizer, as you can make them ahead and just pop them in the oven to warm through. Since this was my favorite, the recipe is below.

We then moved onto Pad Thai. A lot of people seemed skeptical about pairing candy with pad thai, but I thought it would be a great match - there's already sugar and peanuts in pad thai, so why not? In fact, Chef Bill took out both the sugar and the peanuts and used the Sweet Sloops to provide those flavors - it worked perfectly, although I can't see making this routinely. It's definitely a conversation piece, though, and would be great to wow your friends and family with.

For dessert, we actually tried two different dishes. Chef Bill passed around Toll House cookies that were made with Sweet Sloops Crunch instead of chocolate chips. They were delicious, as I expected them to be, and is probably the recipe that most of the attendees are going to try at home. We also had Bananas Foster, with Sweet Sloops Crunch used as a garnish. (Above, Chef Bill gets ready for some flambe.) I'm not crazy about cooked bananas, but I loved the Sweet Sloops over ice cream.

So, as if I didn't already love Sweet Sloops, I now have even more excuses to buy them.

Can you see the chocolate all melty and delicious in that picture?

Dates with Goat and Gorgonzola Cheese, Bacon, and Sweet Sloops Crunch
4 oz goat cheese, room temperature
3 oz gorgonzola cheese, room temperature
3 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/4 cup Sweet Sloops Crunch
15 Medjool dates

Preheat oven to 350°.

Mix together the two cheeses, then mix in cooked bacon and Sweet Sloops Crunch. Make a slit in the top of each date, keeping the bottom intact, and remove the pit. Put one teaspoon of the cheese mixture into each date. Place dates on a sheet pan and bake for less than 5 minutes, until cheese are heated through.

Apple and Butternut Squash Gratin

Like I said, I’ve been trying to use apples in any way possible. I love the combination of apples and cheese (enough so that my regular apple pie recipe uses gruyere in the crust) and figured that a savory dish featuring both ingredients couldn’t be a bad thing. After a quick search, I came up with a Martha Stewart recipe for a butternut squash and apple gratin. There were many things about it that I didn’t like, though, so I changed it around substantially and turned it into a much prettier dish. (The original called for laying down the squash, then the leeks, then the apples, and topping with parmesan. I think it looks much better when the squash, leeks, and apple are all layered together like above, but if you’re pressed for time, you can try it the easier way.)

As I was making the gratin, I kept thinking that there was no way that four of us were going to be able to eat the whole thing in one sitting (as part of a meal that also included a pork tenderloin). But from the first bite, it was clear that this dish was fantastic – we polished the whole thing off first. The apples and the squash cook down until they’re just barely holding onto their shape, and the cheese helps hold the whole thing together (while also adding some much needed saltiness to the sweet fruits). This is definitely a warm and comforting dish that would pair well with just about any fall meal. I wish we had had some leftover, if only so I could see how this did when reheated. You can cut and arrange everything ahead of time, although you might want to brush the apples with a little bit of lemon juice to make sure they don't brown and get dried out.

Apple and Butternut Squash Gratin
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp water
2 medium leeks, white part only, chopped and well washed
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup dry sherry
1 Tbsp chopped fresh sage
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/8-inch thick slices
3-4 apples, peeled, cored, halved, and cut into 1/8-inch thick slices
8 ounces (or more) cheddar cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 350°.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add leeks and water, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the leeks begin to brown, about 10 minutes. Add sherry and sage, and cook until liquid is reduced to a glaze, about 3 minutes. Set aside.

In a large, shallow baking dish, arrange squash and apple slices in alternating rows, as in the picture above. Add leek glaze between the layers. Cover tightly with aluminum foil, and bake for 45 minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven, and raise the oven temperature to 450°. Uncover the pan and sprinkled the top with cheese. Bake uncovered for about 10 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and begun to brown. Cool slightly before serving.

Vermont Wrap Up

Since I'm not a skier, spend my summers at the Cape, and have been in school during the fall for what feels like the last 80 years, I've never had a good time to visit Vermont. But now, with a little time on my hands and a kitchen sans counters or sinks, I had the chance to escape for a few days and take in all the good things that our neighbors to the north have to offer.

We left Boston early and headed up through New Hampshire and on into Vermont. We stopped at the Crossroads Country Cafe in White River Junction for breakfast. The place looks like every small country cafe, but it had some of the most amazing pancakes and homemade bread that I've had. The pancakes were light and fluffy with crispy edges and fantastic buttermilk flavor. And thick slices of buttered fresh cinnamon raisin bread? Oh so good.

After breakfast, we finished driving up to Waterbury and Stowe. Our first stop was the Green Mountain Coffee Visitors' Center. They have a small exhibit focused on fair trade and the coffee growing and roasting process, as well as a shop with just about any flavor coffee you could want.

How could you visit Vermont and not have some Ben & Jerry's? Just up Route 100, Ben & Jerry's has a working factory that produces about 250,000 pints a day (and 500,000 pints per day in their other factory) while still being entertaining for visitors. Everything was brightly painted, our guide was funny, and of course, there was a sample at the end. The factory floor itself is very small - I'd say it could fit inside a typical school gym. And showing more humor is the flavor graveyard located by the parking lot, where old flavors are retired gracefully.

Driving further up Route 100, there are a bunch of shops that are fun to visit, if perhaps a little overly touristy. Cabot Cheese, The Kitchen Store, Danforth Pewter, and Lake Champlain Chocolates share one plaza, and Cold Hollow Cider Mill and Grand View Winery Tasting Room share another plaza. Cabot and Lake Champlain are available all over the place, but these stores give you the full line of products. In fact, the Lake Champlain store includes a factory seconds area where you can get this chocolate a little bit cheaper. I bought the sodas above, from Vermont Sweetwater Bottling, because of their unusual flavors. I loved the rhubarb raspberry and was quite surprised by the maple. A great local find!

I enjoyed the Grand View Winery Tasting Room the most out of this bunch. For $1, you get to try six different types of fruity wines - much sweeter than most wines out there, but then, I prefer sweet wines. Flavors range from pear to blackberry, and my favorites were the raspberry apple and the hard cider.

For dinner, we ended up at Pie in the Sky, just a few doors down from our hotel. I'm a sucker for "gourmet" pizzas, so this place really hit the spot for me. We ordered the Blonde Vermonter (above, with olive oil, cheddar cheese, green apples, and ham) because it seemed like the right thing to do on a Vermont vacation, and the Thai Pie (peanut sauce, chicken, cilantro, red onion, and broccoli) because that's my mother's favorite type of pizza. Both were excellent, with crispy crusts and terrific flavor combinations. The menu there is huge too, with unconventional toppings like leeks and black beans. If this were closer, I'd eat there all the time (and apparently they have a lunch buffet for $7.25 with pizza, soup, salad, and soda - an amazing deal well worth taking advantage of).

The next day, we headed out to Cabot to visit the Cabot Cheese Factory. All the Cabot shops, including the factory, have samples of all their different cheeses out so you can try them all. Their newest flavors, Tuscan, Tika Masala, and Chili Lime, are all fantastic. Part of the tour included a video outlining the history of the company, and they focused on the fact that Cabot is a co-op, meaning all of the roughly 1300 farmers who supply the milk are also the owners of the company. In a time when so many people are focused on trying to eat locally and support small farmers, it's great to see a big company like Cabot that runs exclusively on that concept. I also found it interesting that Cabot created the niche for Vermont cheddar - before they coined the phrase, nobody was looking for cheddar from Vermont, but it's now one of their biggest products.

Another thing I love about Cabot? Tons and tons of recipes on their website, some of which I have already tried and loved.

After that, we headed down to Woodstock and Quechee. We wandered around the center of Woodstock, which is a beautifully picturesque New England town, then did some shopping at Quechee Village (which has a really fantastic antique store that I could have gotten lost in for days, plus another Cabot Cheese store). For dinner, we headed to the beautiful Simon Pearce factory, store, and restaurant, which is what got my mother interested in taking this trip in the first place. We wandered around the store, where I picked out things that I may never be able to afford, and looked out over the gorgeous waterfall before heading into the restaurant. Just about everything was delicious, but the standouts were the arugula salad (with Manchego cheese, Serrano ham, marcona almonds, and quince paste) and the horseradish-crusted cod (above, with crispy leeks, herb mashed potatoes, balsamic shallot reduction). Service was attentive without being obtrusive, and you get to try out all the glassware in the store as you eat. This is a perfect special occasion or fancy night out restaurant.

Breakfast the next morning had us back at the Quechee Village shopping center, where the Farmers Diner is located. It is a quintessentially Vermont diner, filled with amazing local ingredients and country fare. Local eggs, meats, cheeses, and flours are all over the menu. Their hash browns have just a little bit of spice and fantastically crispy edges, while the pancakes, mixing white and wheat flours, have a slightly nutty flavor while still being light and fluffy. I only wished we could have stuck around to have lunch there too - the menu looks fantastic!

By this point, we were a little tired of being in the car together, but we had one stop left before we could head home. King Arthur Flour is just up the road from Quechee. The complex includes a store, a bakery, and an education center. I'd love to take a class there sometime, but there was nothing we wanted offered in the few days we had free. Instead, we used our time to wander around the store and bakery. I could have blown a lot of money here, but I exercised restrain and only picked up a few things (including an olive bread mix that I'm dying to try).

This was a great, quick, and fun trip, filled with delicious food, beautiful foliage, and plenty of shopping. If you're interested in taking a similar trip, I've put together a map with all of my stops, and I have some more pictures here on Flickr.

Sou Boreg

Sou Boreg, like so many Armenian dishes, is this mythical creature that many people talk about eating when they were younger, but would never attempt to make themselves. You can sometimes find it at Armenian markets, usually in the freezer section, and I was amazed to find it available every day on the menu at Brookline Family Restaurant, the Turkish place down the street from me.

The biggest reason why you don’t see this more often is because it’s such a time intensive process. This is one of those dishes that, in the old days, the ladies would have gathered together to make in mass quantities, helping each other and gossiping at the same time. While we were making this, my brother hypothesized that such complex dishes were created back in the day to cure boredom and enable gossip time; I favor the idea that they were a way to show off talent (and show off that you had the time to invest in the process) instead. When my mother complained that the process was taking too long, I said that we were at least getting in some bonding time. “Can’t we do something else to bond?” she asked.

Anyway, my mother tried making sou boreg from scratch years ago, and she found it to be more of a hassle than anything. Rolling out the dough took forever because it has to be so thin and even. Then, someone suggested using packaged eggroll wrappers instead, cutting out the steps of making and rolling out the dough. Each individual eggroll wrapper must still be boiled for a moment, shocked in ice water, then arranged on a towel to dry, meaning that the shortcut does not make this a quick dish to throw together. But if you have the time, the patience, and an extra set of hands, the reward is a crunchy, cheesy, buttery treat that will make you forget the effort that went into it.

The picture below shows the set up for boiling the noodles, with the pots for hot water (in the back), ice water (in the front), and the noodles on the towel.


Sou Boreg
2 lbs Muenster cheese, rind removed, grated
8 oz. cottage cheese
1 egg, beaten
1 cup parsley, minced
36 eggroll wrappers
1 ½ sticks butter, melted

Butter the bottom and sides of an 11x15 inch baking pan.

Combine Muenster cheese, cottage cheese, egg, and parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Fill another pot or bowl with ice water, and lay a large towel on the counter top next to the stove. Working one at a time, boil the first 18 eggroll wrappers in boiling water for about a minute, until just cooked through (they will fall apart if cooked too long). Transfer to ice water to cool the noodle, then lay flat on the towel to dry. Arrange the 18 noodles in the tray – for this size pan, three noodles per layer (2 whole and one cut in half) – and brush each layer with butter. After six layers, arrange cheese filling in an even layer. Boil and dry the rest of the noodles, then repeat layering over the cheese filling. Cover and refrigerate for at least half an hour.

Preheat oven to 400°. Remove tray from fridge and cut into squares. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden. Serve hot.

Brie and Apple Sandwich

A few weeks ago, I received an email from Ile de France, offering me the chance to try some of their brie. I don't think it would have been possible for me to say no, since brie is my favorite cheese. My favorite brie is the Brie de Lyon at Wasik's in Wellesley, but I'm rarely over there to purchase some.

The Ile de France brie was tasty and creamy, albeit on the mild side. I like brie with a little more bite on crackers, but this seemed like it would mix well with other flavors. I opted for a brie and green apple sandwich, which can be thrown together in minutes but tastes sophisticated and unusual. I used my George Foreman Grill as a panini press (it always does a great job), but if you don't have a George or a regular panini press, you can always make this on toasted bread.

Brie and Apple Sandwich
French bread (about 6 inches long)
brie (about 2 ounces, sliced thin)
green apple (about 1/3 of one apple, sliced thin)
honey

Slice bread in half, lengthwise, and place on the hot panini press while you cut the other ingredients. Remove from heat, and layer brie across the bottom slice. Layer apple on top of the brie, then drizzle with honey before topping with the top slice of bread. Place back onto panini press and toasted until cheese is melty and bread is golden. Serve immediately.