Week 4 - Baked Brie, guest starring Cait, Dana, Dominic, and Byron.

I’m sitting here having a hard time trying to start this entry. The good news is that the response from the past weeks has been positive, with a lots of ‘Oh it’s funny, keep it funny’ feedback. But to be honest I wasn’t really feeling too into cheese night this week. Why? Because in theory, everyone loves the idea and is into it and interested, and then when it comes down to it I’m practically begging folks to come over (which should be unnecessary, I’m an excellent hostess. I’m also the queen of setting expectations too high and feeling disappointed. So there’s that.).

So, cut to–one hour before baked Brie night and I’ve locked myself in my closet, upset, wanting to call it off (I don’t know why I was hiding in my closet, I live alone, it’s not like I hiding from another person. Hiding from life maybe?) But, my co-worker Cait was on her way, and the boys are always into getting fed, so I pulled my world together.

History:

Brie is a soft cow cheese named after the French region it originates, made with whole or semi-skimmed and aged for typically 5-6 weeks. While Brie can be produced outside of France, there are only two ‘true’ Brie cheeses, Brie de Meaux and Brie de Melun. Brie de Meaux is the ‘King of Cheeses’, considered the finest of Bries. Story has it that French Emperor Charlemagne tasted it and instantly fell in love, and since it was popular with him, it became popular amongst the common folk. Brie de Melun is smaller than Brie de Meaux, made unpasteurized and has a stronger, more pungent flavor. I honestly have no idea which kind of Brie we tried (I should have taken a photo of the label), but if I had to guess it wasn’t a ‘true’ Brie and probably produced in Wisconsin or some shit. Fun fact! Did you know that the white powered of the rind is actually white mold? Neither did I.

I ended up going with a blackberry jam and pecans to go with our baked Brie, next time I would like to try it with a marmalade or a fig jam. I also got some Granny Smith Apples and grapes to go along with our meal.

Before...

During...

Finished Product!

Our wine pairing...

Byron cutting the cheese (hehehe.)

Together the meal tasted great. Byron had said that he had a hard time distinguishing the Brie flavor from the rest, and I’m just going to come out and say it–I don’t think Brie cheese is very good. Never have. I love a lot of soft cheeses, that’s not my issue, I just don’t think Brie has very much flavor at all. It’s just bland. How it’s so popular is beyond me.

Dominic had this idea to have a ‘secret guest’ for cheese night, a person in his pocket the entire time, and at the end of the night we get to guess who joined us for dinner. I immediately guessed Roseanne Barr or ‘that lesbian girl also on Roseanne’ (which I realize is very un-PC of me, but it is what it is). Instead it was:

Get it? ‘French’ Stuart? I feel comfort knowing he was there, giving us two big thumbs up the entire time.

Dana did join us after she was pau with work, which I much appreciated (lactose intolerance be damned!).

I swear we like eachother.