Baked Crab With Brie Wrapped In Puff Pastry Food

BAKED BRIE IN PUFF PASTRY

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degree C). Lightly grease a 9 inch pie pan.
• Slice the wheel of Brie in half, horizontally, so that the halves are two, flatter wheels of Brie. Lay the puff pastry in the pie pan. Place half of the Brie (rind-side down) onto the pastry dough. Sprinkle almonds evenly over the top. Place the other half of the Brie (rind-side up) over the almonds. Bundle the pastry dough around the Brie.
• Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

BAKED CRANBERRY BRIE PUFF PASTRY

Steps:

• In a small saucepan over medium heat, place the cranberries, cherries and water. Make sure the water covers the dried fruit. Add more water if needed. Bring to a boil and lower the heat to low. Add the orange zest and vanilla extract. Simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool for about 10 minutes.
• Line a baking sheet with a non-stick baking mat, parchment paper or foil.
• Preheat the oven to 400 Fahrenheit
• Dust your work space or counter with a little flour. Do the same to your rolling pin. Unroll one sheet of puff pastry gently and place it on the counter. Roll your pastry gently until it reaches about 11 x 11 inches. There is no need to measure it! We are just trying to make the pastry a bit thinner and get rid of the folding creases (slightly). If it breaks, wet your fingers with water and pinch the pastry dough back together. (Think of it as play dough and enjoy the process!!)
• Follow one of the methods below.
• After rolling the pastry, place the round of brie in the middle. Top with the cranberries. Fold the corners over the cheese forming a neat package. Almost like wrapping a present. If you feel you have too much puff pastry in some areas, trim it with a sharp knife. Keep the trimmings to use for decorating.
• Lay the pastry on a dinner plate. Add the cranberries in the middle of the puff pastry. Place the cheese on top. Fold the corners over the cheese. This will be the bottom so you don't have to be so neat.
• Place the prepared sheet pan on top of the wrapped brie. Gently hold the dinner plate (don't press too hard) and flip! Lift the dinner plate. Voila! The seams are down.
• In a small bowl, combine the egg with about a tablespoon of water to make an egg wash. Cut decorative shapes from the remaining puff pastry. You can use cookie cutters if you wish. Using a pastry brush, gently brush the decorative cut outs with the egg wash and adhere to the wrapped brie. Brush the wrapped brie evenly with egg wash. Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.
• Bake the brie for about 15-25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes. This will give the cheese time to firm up a bit. Otherwise, it will all gush out. Not that there is anything wrong with that!
• Serve with accompaniments.

BAKED STUFFED BRIE WITH CRANBERRIES & WALNUTS

Steps:

• Score the side of a wheel of brie all the way around with a sharp paring knife. Cut directly on the "equator" through the rind. Using a long piece of string or dental floss, wrap the string around the brie on the newly made cut. Loop one end of the string over the other (a half knot). Then pulling the ends of the string in opposite directions, cut the brie in half.
• Press the dried cranberries on one cut side of the brie, and the walnuts on the other. Quickly put the 2 sides back together with the cranberries on top of the walnuts. Press together and stuff back in any cranberries or walnuts that fell out.
• Roll out a thawed sheet of puff pastry on a floured surface to about 1/8-inch thickness. Place brie in center of pastry. Gently pull up edges to ensure you have enough dough to entirely wrap the brie. You can trim off the corners if there is too much dough. Brush the dough with the egg wash. Fold one edge of the dough over the brie and then the opposite side. Fold over the remaining edges and complexly encase the brie. You can trim off excess pieces of dough, if necessary. Flip the brie over so the seam is at the bottom; gently press in the sides to snug the dough against the brie. Brush the top and sides of the wrapped brie with egg wash.
• If you choose to decorate the brie with cut-out shapes of additional puff pastry, use very cold (almost still frozen) dough to ensure sharp lines. Lightly brush the decorative pieces with egg wash. Place the brie in the freezer for one hour (this is a crucial step; see note below).
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Place the brie on the prepared baking sheet. Bake on the center rack in preheated oven until it is browned and leaking cheese, about 20 minutes. (Only rarely does the brie not leak through, but 20 to 25 minutes is about how long it takes to melt the cheese and brown the pastry.)

MUMMY-WRAPPED BRIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°. Unfold one sheet of puff pastry. On a lightly floured surface, roll pastry into a 14-in. square. Cut off corners to make a circle. Spread jam into a 4-1/2-in. circle in center of pastry. Place Brie on top; fold pastry over cheese, trimming as necessary, and pinch edges to seal. Beat egg and water; brush over pastry., Place on an ungreased baking sheet, seam side down. Roll remaining pastry into a 14-in. square. Cut four 1-in. strips; cut strips in half crosswise. Wrap strips around Brie, trimming as necessary. Discard scraps. Bake 10 minutes; brush again with egg wash. Bake until golden brown, 10-15 minutes more. For eyes, cut two circles from apple slices; place on top of Brie. Top each circle with a dried cranberry. Serve warm with apple slices.

BAKED CRAB WITH BRIE WRAPPED IN PUFF PASTRY

Steps:

• In a mixing bowl combine crab meat, green onion, Tabasco sauce and mayonnaise and blend together.
• Set out frozen puff pastry about 20 to 30 minutes before ready to use.
• On a working surface place the brie and cut a ring about an inch from the side and left out the center ring and remove some of the brie and spoon in the crab meat mixture and place the center pieces back in place.
• Roll out pastry to 1/8" thickness. Cut off a 4" strip and set aside to use as decoration.
• Place Brie in center of puff pastry and bring up edges and crimp edges together around Brie, sealing completely. Turn Brie - crimped dough side down on a backing sheet. With remaining 4" of dough left cut out leaf design or anything you may want to use as a decoration. Place on top of dough covered Brie. Refrigerate until ready to bake. This can be kept overnight for your convenience. Just cover with plastic wrap.
• When ready to bake - remove plastic wrap. Mix egg yolk with 1 teaspoon water and brush entire dough covered Brie.
• Preheat oven to 400°. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven and let set 20-25 minutes before serving.