Baked Stuffed Brie – 2016 Red Carpet Menu for Oscar®

It’s Oscar® Week!!! Time to give you the recipes for the AMAZING 2016 Red Carpet Menu for Oscar®!! 

Our first appetizer is based on the movie, “ROOM“… it’s “SHROOM“! A baked stuffed brie, or brie en croute, with a duxelles, which is a mushroom spread. 

If you’ve seen the movie, you know that BRIE Larson plays the main character. She is also nominated for Best Actress. Thanks to Daryl Cheang for suggesting brie! Relating to the plot, the brie is in a pastry “room” but when it’s baked, breaks free of it’s crusty containment! 

Here’s how: 

INGREDIENTS:
• 4 tbsp butter
• 1 cup shallots, finely chopped
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 lbs mushrooms, minced
• 2 tbsp fresh thyme, stripped
• 6 tbsp white wine
• 1 wheel brie
• 1 large egg
• 1 sheet puff pastry
• salt & pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:
1) Melt butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic. Cook until translucent. Add the mushrooms, salt, wine, and thyme. Stir until the mushrooms start to shrink and release their liquid. 
2) Raise the heat a bit and add pepper. Continue to stir until liquid has evaporated. Remove from heat and set aside. 
3) Score the brie about an eighth of an inch deep all around then, using kitchen string or unwaxed dental floss, wrap it in the groove – make a loose knot and pull in opposite directions to split the brie. 
4) Generously spoon the duxelles on each side and place one side on the other. Set aside. 
5) Roll the dough out a bit to accommodate the brie then place it in the middle. Brush dough around the brie with the egg wash. Fold the dough over the brie to fully encase it, trimming off excess dough – turn it over. If you’d like to make it decorative, you can use the extra dough or just a fork! Brush egg wash on all sides, wrap in plastic and put in the freezer for an hour. 
6) Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 425° for about 20 minutes or until the top is golden and the cheese is oozing. 

We’ll be serving this with buttery crackers but you can also use crostini or toasted baguette. The velvety texture of the brie, the wonderful flavor of the duxelle, and buttery flakiness of pastry… yes! 

Annette