An Easy Party Appetizer

By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

From our New York City apartment after college, to our condo in Honolulu, to our house in San Francisco, Steve and I have hosted many a holiday cocktail party. At its largest, we’d have about 75 guests.

Four years ago, we threw our last big party. I found that all those days spent cooking, baking and getting ready for the event and Steve spending endless hours grocery shopping and washing dishes, left us little time to savor the season.

So now, if we feel in the mood, we might do a small get-together, keeping food prep to a minimum. I draw from a repertoire of simple things to make, that would go well with a glass of wine.

Warm Party Brie is one of the easiest. It’s adapted from a recipe developed for the California raisin industry, which was my client when I worked in the San Francisco office of a global PR agency.

If you want to make this goof proof, remove the rind of the brie the day before and wrap the wheel tightly in plastic wrap. Then you merely have to heat the cheese and add the golden raisins and toasted pecans before serving. The fruits and nuts enhance the flavor of the brie and the presentation looks polished—belying the few minutes it took to assemble.

Warm Party Brie
1 5-inch wheel brie (about 13 ounces)
¼ cup golden raisins
¼ cup toasted pecan or walnut halves

Heat oven to 300°F. With a sharp knife, remove the top rind of the brie, leaving a ¾-inch border. Place brie on a small baking sheet and put it into the oven to warm until cheese begins to soften, about 7 minutes. Using a wide spatula, remove brie to serving dish. Arrange pecans and raisins on top, keeping border free.

Serve warm with baguette slices or crackers.

Makes about 12 appetizer servings.

Notes:

• To toast nuts: Put nuts in a single layer in a microwave-safe dish. Microwave on high for 1 minute, stir and microwave for another minute. Continue to stir and microwave a minute at a time, until nuts are just lightly brown and beginning to smell fragrant. Nuts will continue to cook from the residual heat after they are removed from the microwave so be careful not to burn them. Cool thoroughly. Nuts will not crisp until cooled.
• Scatter additional toasted nuts and raisins around your serving dish; when the topping is consumed, guests can sprinkle their cheese with the additional nuts and raisins.

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