Fine Fast Food - Baked Brie Wheel with Nuts, Dates and Thyme

Life has been moving at a breakneck pace recently it seems - at least for me. I moved down the block and am still living out of boxes so I haven’t been doing too much creating in the kitchen lately.

But I had family stop by recently with some champagne to celebrate the move so I had to think of something to have with it (with ingredients I already had).

This was so easy and tasty and was a perfect celebration snack.

INGREDIENTS

1 8 ounce wheel of brie

2-4 fresh cloves garlic

½ teaspoon of fresh thyme leaves

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons chopped walnuts

1 tablespoon chopped dates

2 tablespoons butter

1-2 tablespoons honey

a few sprigs fresh thyme

slices or wedges of bread or prepared crostini, for serving

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 350.

Bake the walnuts:

Spread walnuts on a small baking sheet. Bake until the nuts are deeply golden brown, 7 to 8 minutes. Stir the walnuts with a spatula about halfway through baking. Keep a close eye on them, since they can easily burn.

Remove from the oven and set aside.

Remove the wheel of brie from the box and take off any wax paper or labeling.

Put the wheel back in the box, discarding the box lid.

With kitchen string, wrap the wheel tightly and knot it so the box stays intact during baking.

Place the box in a small, ovenproof baking dish (or the sheet you used for the nuts).

Using a paring knife, make 4 slivers out of two of the garlic cloves. Pierce the brie with the same paring knife and make slivers in the brie to fit the slivers of garlic in. Tuck the garlic slivers all the way into the brie. You could do this up to one day in advance if you are prepping for a get together; it flavors the brie even more!

Place the nuts and dates on top of the brie and just press gently into the cheese.

When ready to bake, mince or press the remaining clove of garlic into a microwave-safe bowl, along with the thyme, olive oil, butter and honey. Zap in the microwave just long enough for the butter to melt, roughly 20-40 seconds. Stir to combine and pour the prepared honey butter over the brie wheel.

Top with some fresh thyme.

Cover the baking dish with a piece of foil and place in the oven for the brie to melt, about 15-18 minutes.

Remove from the oven and use a butter knife to check if the brie has melted on the inside. If it has not softened,  place it back in the oven for 2-3 additional minutes. When done, serve immediately with crackers, crostini or apple slices.

Feel free to substitute the herb, nuts or fruit, using anything you have handy.

And of course, if you have a bottle of champagne handy, just chilling in the fridge, that’s great too.