She was detail-oriented to the extreme and I eventually burned out from lack of sleep and a paycheck that did not make putting up with her demands worthwhile. I walked away from the experience with a very good friend (not Annie, but her accountant Steve), knowledge of how to run a food business and two of the brie recipes below. The mushroom one is my invention, but in the spirit of “Annie,” I don’t care if you tell everyone that it’s yours.
Raspberry Pecan or Almond
Apricot Brie
Serves 10
1 small wheel of brie
1 jar best quality raspberry or apricot preserves (you’ll only use 1⁄2 the jar)
2 cups toasted pecans or slivered almonds
1. On a sheet pan lined with parchment paper, place unwrapped wheel of brie. Spread the preserve of your choice over the top and sides with a pastry knife or plastic spatula. Make sure you have plenty of preserves on top.
2. Press toasted nuts all over top and onto sides of brie. Can be served at room temperature, or placed in a 300-degree oven for 5 minutes to slightly warm. The preserves will all melt off if left in too long. Lift off of parchment sheet onto serving platter.
Seared Mushroom Brie with Sherry Cream
1 small wheel of brie
1 to 2 pounds of mixed mushrooms like
shitake, beech, enoki, cremini and oyster.
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 large shallot or 2 smaller ones
1⁄4 cup sherry
11⁄2 cups heavy cream
Kosher salt and ground pepper to taste
Fresh rosemary or thyme sprig to garnish
1. Unwrap brie and place on platter. Slice shitake and cremini mushrooms thinly. Cut bottoms off beech, enoki and oyster mushrooms and separate with fingers into smaller groups. (these mushrooms grow in a bundle, so you want to separate the bundle).
2. In a large sauté pan, heat the oil for 1 to 2 minutes until very hot. Add mushrooms being careful not to overcrowd the pan. Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring infrequently until mushrooms have let off all their liquid. Continue to cook, flipping mushrooms with tongs as they sear and turn rusty brown in color. They will lose all liquid and become crispy. Remove from pan and set aside.
3. Add 1 tsp more of oil and reduce heat to medium-high. Add shallots and sauté, scraping pan with wooden spoon to remove any crust from the mushrooms. After a minute, add sherry and cook until most of the liquid evaporates. Add cream and stir well. Cook for 1 minute and return mushrooms to cream. Season if needed with salt and pepper.
4. Pour hot cream and mushrooms over brie, garnish with herbs and serve. |
