Warm baked Brie

Chef/co-owner Gayle Pirie
Foreign Cinema, San Francisco

How can you possibly improve on the warm, soft, cheesy goodness of baked Brie? By slathering it in poached cranberries and pecans, adding radicchio and serving with perfectly toasted bread! Chef Gayle Pirie shows how.

Ingredients

Poached cranberry compote
1 cup dried cranberries
1 1/2 cups cold water
3 tbsp. distilled white wine vinegar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 bay leaf
1 cinnamon stick

Baked Brie
2 to 3 oz. of your favorite Brie, sliced into wedges, about 2 cm thick
2 tsp. heavy cream
2 tbsp. raw pecans
Pinch of salt (optional)
8 hand-torn, bite-sized pieces of whole wheat sourdough bread
3 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. poached cranberry compote (recipe provided) or dried cranberries
4 leaves radicchio
Ripe apple or pear, cut into slices

Directions

For compote: Combine ingredients in a small pot over medium-low heat. Simmer for 20 minutes or until cranberries are plumped, stirring as needed. (Cranberries will absorb moisture.) Allow to cool, then refrigerate. Makes 1 1/2 cups. Compote will keep for one month.

For Brie: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place cheese in a small iron cazuela or other shallow baking dish. Add cream, pecans and salt, if using. Bake for 8 to 12 minutes or until cheese is melted and golden. Flip pecans halfway through, if necessary, to avoid burning. While cheese is baking, sauté bread pieces in olive oil over medium heat until golden, about 5 minutes, turning constantly to brown. Serve immediately with cranberry compote, radicchio and fruit slices.

Serves 2