Pastry wrapped Brie stuffed with caramelized onions

This appetizer gets me more compliments than anything I have ever made. EVER. It's that good. But more importantly, it's easy. Well, ok, caramelizing the onions taking a bit of time but it's not complicated. Check out how to caramelize onions here. The great thing about brie and puff pastry is that you can add pretty much anything and it will be delicious. Jams, sauces, nuts, fruit will all work. You can serve it with bread, like I did here, or use crackers - heck a spoon will work too! In the pictures I added more onions and I love baking it in a cast iron pan because I can serve it in the pan. Let the cheese sit once once you take it out of the oven so it gets ooey and gooey.

Ingredients

1 egg

1 tbsp water 

All-purpose flour to cover work surface

1/2 of a 17.3-ounce package puff pastry, thawed 

1 cup carmelized onions

1 (13- to 16-ounce) Brie cheese round

1 crusty baguette
clove of garlic, peeled (optional)
olive oil spray (optional)

Instructions

1. Defrost the puff pastry according to directions.
2. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
3. Beat the egg and water in a small bowl.
4. Sprinkle the flour on the work surface. 
5. Roll the pastry sheet into an approximately 14-inch square. 
6. Gently take the brie and place in centre of pastry. Push gently and remove brie– you just want to see the indentation of the brie.
7. Spread the onions on the pastry within the impression you just made. 
8. Place brie on top of onions.
9. Spread more onions on top.
10. Fold the pastry up and over the cheese to cover. Trim the excess pastry and press to seal. 
11. Brush the seam with some of the egg mixture.
12. Place seam-side down onto a baking sheet.
13. Brush all of pastry with the egg mixture.
14. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Let stand for 45 minutes (yes, 45 minutes).
15. Serve with thinly cut bread. To take it up a notch, cut the bread into 1 cm slices, rub with a clove of garlic, spray with a bit of olive oil and grill on medium heat until slightly charred. 

Roasted Onion Soup

Roasted onion soup with crusty bread.

I love that this onion soup is just that - onion soup....no cheese, no extra bread on top....just onions (and a little pork). Pure. Simple. Delicious.

This recipe is adapted from Inspirations - the girls who dish.

Ingredients
1/3 cup coarsely chopped salt pork (or double smoked bacon, if preferred)
2 tbsp olive oil
8 shallots
3 leeks (white and pale green parts only)
1 large spanish onion
2 red onions
2 white onion
1-1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 c white wine
1 tbsp fresh thyme
4-6 c stock (any kind)
pepper, to taste

What to do

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
• Thinly slice all onions. The thinner the better!
• Throw the onions, oil and pork into a large roasting pan and stir together.
• Sprinkle the sugar over the onion mixture and roast about 50 minutes. Stir every 15 minutes to ensure even carmelization.
• Once nicely coloured remove the pan from the oven.
• Directly to the pan, add the thyme, wine, and pepper. Pour in stock until the onions are barely covered with stock.
• Bring soup to a boil on stove top and then reduce to a simmer.
• Simmer for half an hour. (PS if your roasting pan is too big for stove top, transfer every to a soup pot once onions are removed from the oven.) If desired, add more stock if too thick.
• I like using a hand blender for a few seconds to thicken the soup a little.
• But sometimes, I leave eveything as is as I've been known to pull out the onions the next day and add them to sandwiches, mashed potatoes etc!

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