The Chef Series: Cheesy Date Night Magic

For the second post in The Chef Series, I reached out to the very talented Chef Laura Gallivan to see what she could create with my Orange Onion Marmalade. What follows below is a recipe that will kick your September off with the feeling of comfort food. I warn you in advance that you may want to wear 'comfortable pants' when eating this creation ;). I decided to make it using my favourite bread made by my friend Simon over at Blackbird Bakery. It was a wise choice.

Cheesy Date Night Magic - Ingredients

1 med wheel of Brie (enough to feed 2 people who love cheese)

2-3 tbsp Manning Canning Orange Onion Marmalade

4 cloves roasted garlic

Toasted pecans 

2 tbsp caramelized onions

1 pinch chili flakes

Baguette, crustini or favourite crackers for cheesy goodness

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°

You can get fancy with this one if you want, if you’ve got one of those clay Brie crocks that someone got you that time you got married...but it really isn’t necessary. Any size appropriate oven proof dish will do, or you could even McGuyver a tinfoil baking vessel, I would just recommend giving it a little no stick spray first...as this dish is gooey & sticky.

Here’s the tricky part....Get your trustiest paring knife. Starting from the outer edge of the wheel of brie, insert the tip of the knife into the cheese, angling it towards the middle on a 45° angle, being careful not to pierce the cheese all the way down to the bottom. Slowly turn the wheel of cheese so that you cut all the way around the edge. The idea is that you are making a well in the center of the wheel & keeping the top intact as a lid to keep all the goodness in.

Now that you have the hardest part done, take the caramelized onion, garlic & chili flakes & mince them all together...you can use a food processor, your knife, a mortar & pestle...whatever you like. Once that is done, add in the orange onion marmalade & fold it all together & season to taste.

Dump this mix into the well you’ve created in your cheese & spread it around, sprinkle some nuts on top (totally optional) and put the lid of the cheese back on. Cover with a lid (if you are using a fancy crock or baking dish) or wrap seal it in tinfoil & put on a baking tray and pop it into the oven. 

Set a 15 minute timer and check it at that point. You want it soft & gooey, but not completely molten. Once it is done, remove lid, sprinkle with more nuts (if you want) & a little good salt (maldon or fleur de sel would be nice), crack open a bottle of wine & enjoy.