Creamy Baked Brie and Fig Jam Puff Pastry Bites

 

 At this time of year leading up to Christmas, a predinner canape or starter which partners beautifully with a cold glass of bubbly, is just what we need. The silly season is underway. These bites can be prepared and cooked in the cool of the morning and stored in the refrigerator, and then just reheated and crisped up for 5 minutes in a hot oven before the party. In the Northern Hemisphere, avoiding the heat at this time of year isn't a consideration is it? Cook these just before the party and watch them disappear before your eyes. I can't buy reasonably priced figs so I buy my fig jam, a little indulgence, but well worth it. We have a fig tree growing, but when it decides to produce some figs, I doubt there will be enough for jam, we will be eating them fresh. I've made a few batches of these puff pastry bites, and each time the shapes are slightly inconsistent when cooked, which is the nature of puff pastry, but that doesn't matter. They do such a disappearing act, that nobody notices anyway. Who doesn't love puff pastry with a delicious filling?

I first saw this recipe on Sammie@the Annoyed Thyroid's blog, and after a few little changes, they have been a favourite of mine to bake ever since.

Makes 24

Ingredients:

2 sheets butter puff pastry, defrosted

24 teaspoons fig jam

200 g brie, chopped into 2 cm pieces with rind left on

Method:

Preheat oven to 190 deg. C

Grease two, 12 hole mini muffin trays, the easiest way is with spray on olive oil

Cut each pastry sheet into 12 rectangles. 

Then very carefully, using two fingers (second and third) gently press the pastry rectangles into the muffin holes. Be careful your nails don't pierce the pastry, it is quite soft.The pastry needs to cover the sides of the muffin hole.

Then prick the base a few times with a fork, so that the pastry doesn't puff up when it cooks. We want the sides to puff up, but not the base.

 Bake for 12 minutes in your hot oven.

Carefully take the hot muffin trays from the oven, and lightly press down the base of the pastry. It will have  risen slightly.

Start filling the pastries with the cheese bits. Press the cheese down lightly into the centre to fill the recess. Top with enough of a teaspoon of fig jam, so that the jam is encased in the pastry, not running over the edge.

Place the trays back in the oven, and bake for another 5 minutes, still at 190 deg. C., until the pastry is golden, and the cheese has melted. They will look and taste delicious.

Carefully remove the pastries from the muffin tins with a knife, and place on a nice serving plate, or allow to cool and store covered in the refrigerator.

 Cook's Tip:

• These little beauties will keep in the refrigerator in a sealed container for up to 5 days, however they never last in our home for that long. They can be kept in the refrigerator, and then you are always ready for impromptu get togethers with family and friends, with minimal effort.
• I recommend you buy the best puff pastry you can, preferably made with butter.
• Serve with finely chopped chives sprinkled over the plate, for a little extra colour and subtle flavour.

In this lead up to Christmas there can be a lot of hustle and bustle and pressure to get everything done in time. I'm staying away from the shops as much as possible, mask wearing is now mandatory here again, which is a wake up call that Covid is back in our community. So I think throughout all of this, it is important to be kind to ourselves, and to our family and friends, and to think simply. 

This will be my last post until after Christmas. Thank you to my friends who regularly read my blog, and inspire me with your comments,  it is always a pleasure to hear from you and to read your posts as well. I hope you all enjoy a festive and meaningful Christmas, with those you love, and that the New Year will bring health, happiness and good news. 

Warmest wishes,

Pauline

How to make your own Quince Paste "Membrillo"

Dear Readers, Please allow me to introduce a fellow foodie and good friend, Mr. Paul S. who every Winter provides us with a welcome gift of his Quince Paste, and then little batches sometimes come our way during the year as well, proving that it keeps refrigerated in the tropics very well.  He has been doing this for a few years now, that I know of. The quality is always exceptional and as I have plenty for our use and don't need to make any more, I have asked Paul to be  a guest writer on my blog this week. I have complete faith in this recipe and he enjoys writing about food as well.

(Paul). As an avid follower of Pauline's blog, I am honoured to be invited to be her guest on the Happy Retirees Kitchen blogspot. Towards the end of each autumn I search the markets and greengrocers for one of my favourite fruits, one in short supply in the tropics - the humble quince. I first came upon quince paste on a cheese platter, a "Maggie Beer" product that was perfect with King Island Brie!  Subsequently, in Spain, I found large blocks of the same "membrillo", which they used to sweeten stews and curries. I love it on a cracker with any soft cheese, any blue cheese, any cheese in fact.

Below is a photo of crates of quinces taken by Paul at a market in Fes in Northern Morocco where he and Mrs. S were on holiday last year. Morocco is truly quince land.

This is a very simple recipe, but not an easy one to make. Quinces are initially extremely hard, so peeling and coring the yellow fruit are a chore. As the peeled fruit discolours easily, keep your sliced quinces in water. The fruit has to be softened by boiling - it is rock hard to begin with! Once the sugar is added, the mixture requires regular stirring for around three hours! You keep stirring until the thick mixture is a deep red in colour, and all the water has been evaporated.

Quince paste makes a welcome gift, as Mrs. HRK can attest!

Recipe:

Ingredients:

8 quinces (peeled, cored, and chopped)
Juice of 1 lemon
1 cup of water
5 cups of sugar

Method:

Place the chopped quinces, water and lemon juice in a large heavy based saucepan/pot. Place on high heat to steam the fruit. When the quinces are soft, use a stick blender to blitz to a slurry. Add the sugar and start stirring, continuing regularly to ensure the sweet mixture does not stick to the bottom.

After the quinces have turned to the bright red colour, pour the mixture into a cake tin or similar, cool, and then refrigerate into a firm block which, kept in the fridge, will provide for 12 months of cheese platters.

Photo 1: The quinces have softened, the blender has liquefied the fruit, and the sugar has been added.

Photo 2: After an hour of stirring, the mixture has started to gain colour around the edges and base.

Photo 3: The beautiful red colour has finally arrived, after all that interminable stirring

Photo 4: In a cake tin or mould, your quince paste is ready to cool and refrigerate

If you have read to the end of Paul's quince cooking journey, and I thank him for doing this, I have to tell you it's been an interesting few days.

 This post for me will always be tinged with a little shock and drama. As I was almost finished loading this story and ready to post at 5 pm on Saturday, Mr. HRK appeared at the door holding his hand upright, rather pale, and said "I've hurt myself and it's serious." I had heard him using the table saw in his shed but that happens frequently as he is a DIY kind of guy. You never know how you are going to react in this situation do you? However I managed to dial 000, the ambulance paramedics came, he was taken to hospital emergency,  and by the time I was allowed to see him, two fingers on his left hand, index and third finger had been cleaned and bandaged up, and he had charmed all the nurses.

 He had surgery on his hand Sunday morning,  and recovered well. He has managed to damage the bone on his index finger and that finger has now been amputated to just above the knuckle and the finger next to it is damaged but just has to heal. After all these years of his constructing so many projects in his shed using a variety of equipment, this shows it can happen to anyone. He is home now, and life will be pretty quiet for him now for a while as his hand heals. It could have been a lot worse. The paramedics and the staff of the Mackay Base Hospital have been absolutely wonderful and we are so thankful for that. It's life in the slow lane now for us for a while.

Thanks for dropping by,

Pauline