Becky: ICBC Brie

For this week's challenge, I actually prepared 2 recipes. The first recipe, which is listed below, was taken from http://www.hub-uk.com/foodpages04/recip0158.htm.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1 Granny Smith apple, cored and medium chopped
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
3/4 cup apple cider
4 ounces Brie cheese, rind removed and cut into chunks
4 medium chicken breast halves, on the bone with skin (2 lbs.)

In Heat oil in medium size nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion; cook until very tender, about 8 minutes. Add apple, 1/2 teaspoon thyme, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper and 1/4 cup cider; cook until apples are tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Let cool slightly. Stir in Brie. Divide stuffing into 4 equal portions.

Heat oven to 400ºF.

Run fingers under breast skin to separate from flesh. Put 1/4 of the stuffing under the skin of each breast; press gently to distribute filling evenly. Season chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Place in 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking dish.

Bake in 400ºF oven until no longer pink, 35 minutes. (180ºF on instant - read meat thermometer). Remove chicken to platter; keep warm.

Prepare sauce:
Skim fat from baking dish. Scrape drippings into small saucepan. Heat over medium heat. Add remaining 1/2 cup apple cider; cook to reduce by half. Stir in remaining 1/2 teaspoon thyme and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Spoon over chicken.

Although the chicken turned out to be good, I was a little disappointed as well. For one thing, I think it would've been better if I had gotten boneless, skinless chicken breasts instead of the ones that were on the bone. Cutting a slit in each breast and filling the slits with stuffing would've been better in my opinion. The reason why is because I found that when the brie cheese melted in the oven it actually stuck to the skin. I never eat the skin when I eat chicken breasts so I feel as though I missed out on the yummy flavor of the brie cheese. In fact, I wouldn't even know that this recipe even had brie cheese in it if I hadn't made it myself. Instead the chicken tasted predominantly of the onions and the thyme. So although this chicken was good, it still didn't reach my high expectations. I also think that this recipe called for too much onion.

Unfortunately I had forgotten to take a photo of this recipe and I couldn't find one on the internet. But trust me, I did cook it! :)



This was the second recipe I prepared:



1 small wheel Brie cheese
2 tablespoons butter
1 package slivered almonds

Microwave the Brie for 30 seconds, just until warmed through. Saute almonds in butter until slightly browned.

Pour almonds over warmed Brie on a pretty plate and serve with warm chunks of French bread.

I got this recipe from http://www.recipegoldmine.com/appbrie/brie-almond-appetizer.html. As stated above, I was a little disappointed in my previous recipe so I decided to try again with this simple appetizer recipe. It was delicious with the french bread! One thing that I think would've tried though is to add a little bit of almond extract to the brie. I think it would've given it more of a sweet, nutty flavor, but unfortunately I didn't have any almond extract on hand. Other than that this recipe was very tasty!