So to answer your question, no, I haven't forgotten about Cucina DiBella. Things have been a little crazy the past few weeks. My husband and I are buying our first home (eek!) and so we've been spending ungodly amounts of time dealing with that.
I was also in Florida for a week for my mom's birthday, enjoying the sun and heat. So while I don't expect sympathy since I was blissfully relaxed in the sun last week, don't think I quit writing altogether!
The next region in France that I'm covering is Basse Normandie. The region of Normandie is actually broken into two administrative regions; Basse (Lower) Normandie and Haute (Upper) Normandie. Often these two regions are grouped together as one culinary region, I'm going to try to separate them as much as possible. However, it's entirely possible (and likely) that something I write about under Basse Normandie may be equally prevalent in Haute Normandie. Hey, it's great food either way, right?
On to the food. Oh my deliciousness. This recipe from Basse Normandie is amazing. It's a little individual sized puff pastry wrapped around thinly sliced apples and Camembert and baked to perfection. There are a ton of recipes for Baked Camembert that include different fillings to complement the Camembert, but I chose to go with sliced apples because they provide just the right amount of sweetness. Also, apples are another typical product from Lower Normandy, and so it seemed a fitting pairing for Basse Normandie's most famous cheese. The other thing that I really like about this recipe is that it makes little individual servings of the Baked Camembert. I don't know about you, but I'm not great at sharing when it comes to food like this!
Baked Camembert
Makes 8 servings
Ingredients:
2 sheets/packages puff pastry
1 apple (Granny Smith or Golden Delicious work well), sliced thin
1 wheel Camembert cheese
brown sugar
1 egg white
Process:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Lay out your puff pastry. Cut out circles about 3 or 4 inches in diameter (a drinking glass works well for this). You should get about 8 circles out of one puff pastry sheet
- Line half of the pastry circles on a baking sheet. Set the other half aside. Top each of these circles with a few slices of apple. Be sure to keep about 1/4 to 1/2 inch of bare pastry around the edges to seal them later.
- Remove the wax from the Camembert with a knife. Cut the Camembert into thin slices. Divide the slices among the pastry circles, placing a few slices on top of the apples.
- On top of the Camembert, sprinkle a little brown sugar. Finally, take the half of the pastry circles that you set aside. Place one pastry circle over each of the assembled pastries. Seal well around the edges of the two pastries using your fingers the tongs of a fork.
- Brush the tops of the pastries with the egg white. Bake the pastries for 10 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Serve as is, or with crackers.
Ryan rating of Baked Camembert - 4.5.
Yay! You're back!
Posted by: Jeanne | 05/17/2010 at 10:44 PM