A while back I saw this recipe for a tomato sauce with butter and onion. Butter in a tomato sauce? I was intrigued and I had to try it. It's Marcella Hazan's tomato sauce recipe and it's pretty well known. If you don't know it, you need to know it now.

I have made it so many times since then. Because butter, k? I used to top it with parmesan cheese. A couple of months of I had tons of brie cheese leftover from a project and thought about adding to my spaghetti. Before you think I'm crazy, humor me for a few minutes. It's amazingly creamy when it melts and it's absolutely luxurious. I kept thinking to myself why hadn't I thought of this before?

I'm sure someone else has, I have no idea. If you like brie, you need to try this!

Place a peeled and halved onion into a French oven and pour the juices of your canned plum tomatoes.

Speaking of French ovens, I use my Le Creuset 5.5 Quart one at least five times a week. It lives on my stove because there's no reason to put it away because then I have to get it back out again! I love that there's even heating with the cast iron and since it's enamel, it's easy to clean.

I chop up the tomatoes pretty small.

Add it all to the French oven along with the butter! Salted butter is really important, that way you don't even have to add salt to the sauce.

Cook it for 35 to 40 minutes.

Serve with spaghetti or your favorite pasta and then top with brie…or if you're not feeling that brave, parmesan cheese. You'll love this sauce…it's really heaven!

Print

Butter & Onion Tomato Sauce Pasta with Brie Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Total Time 50 minutes minutes

Servings 6 to 8

Ingredients

• 2 28-ounce cans whole peeled tomatoes, tomatoes roughly chopped with their juices
• 1/2 cup salted butter 1 stick
• 1 large yellow onion peeled and halved
• 1 pound pasta uncooked
• brie cheese rind removed and chopped

Instructions

• Add chopped tomatoes, butter and onion to a large French oven. Turn heat to medium high and bring to a boil. Once it's boiling, reduce heat to low to medium low and simmer for 35 to 40 minutes, until there is no more flat floating (the butter is fully cooked into the tomatoes). Stir occasionally. Serve on top of al dente cooked pasta and brie cheese.

Notes

Tomato Sauce adapted from Steamy Kitchen (originally from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan)

 

Disclosure: Le Creuset sent me a French oven for the purpose of review. I love their products and all opinions expressed in this post are my own. The links in this post contain affiliate links and I will receive a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking on my link. Thanks for your support!

The post Easy Butter & Onion Tomato Sauce Pasta with Brie Recipe appeared first on DualFood.

Side note: When I think of Jessica, I smile. She's hilarious, caring and amazingly talented and humble. I remember a couple of years ago spending time with her on a brand trip, I had just gotten laid off from my job and she was incredibly supportive and encouraging. I appreciate her so much! When I was thinking about what recipe I would make for this virtual (so sad we can't do it in person) baby shower, I thought of her Salmon BLT sliders and wanted to include avocado in some kind of way because she LOVES avocado. And the brie, it was an afterthought and it might sound really weird and strange but it's perfect. I'm a just a little too obsessed with brie cheese lately…

Add all of the ingredients with the liquids first for the aioli into a blender.

Blend until smooth and refrigerate until you're ready to serve.

Cut the salmon into 8 pieces. It's up to you if you want to remove the skin.

Broil for 5 minutes on each side.

Stack the bacon, lettuce and tomato sliders. First spread the aioli on the bottom of slider or dinner rolls, then add the salmon, some brie cheese and then stack the bacon, lettuce and tomato.

I'm so excited for Jessica…she's an amazing person who is extremely supportive of her friends, so talented and humble at the same time, she's going to make an amazing Mom! I hope she enjoy the shower we threw for her and these Salmon BLT sliders!!

Print

Salmon BLT Sliders with an Avocado Aioli & Brie Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Ingredients

Avocado Aioli

• 2 large egg yolks
• 4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 ripe avocado peeled and sliced
• Pinch of salt and pepper

Salmon BLT Sliders

• 1 to 1 1/4 pound salmon
• Brie cheese rind removed, cut into chunks (or your favorite cheese)
• 8 dinner rolls
• sliced bacon cooked
• red or green leaf lettuce
• one plum tomato sliced

Instructions

• Turn on your oven broiler (mine goes to 550 degrees F).
• Add aioli ingredients to your blender (liquids first) and blend until smooth. Pour into a small bowl and cover and refrigerate until use.
• Cut salmon into 8 equal pieces and sprinkle salt and pepper on top. Place on a foil lined baking sheet. Broil salmon for 5 minutes on each side.
• While salmon is broiling, prep the other ingredients.
• Cut dinner rolls/slider buns in half and spread aioli on the bottom, place one piece of salmon, a few pieces of brie on top of the salmon and then stack the bacon, lettuce and tomato on top. Serve immediately.

Notes

Inspired by Crispy Salmon BLT Sliders with Chipotle Mayo.

Seriously, the oozy brie drives me crazy. Brie and salmon, it's a thing.

And be sure to visit these other blogs for more recipes to celebrate Jessica's impending arrival!!

Salads!
Asian Broccoli Salad with Peanut Sauce from Gimme Some Oven | Brussels Slaw with Tahini Dressing and Za'atar Crostini from The Lemon Bowl | Kale Salad with Apple, Hazelnuts & Bacon from With Style & Grace

Cocktails!
Hot Buttered Rum Cocktail from Dine & Dish | Cranberry Orange Dark and Stormy Cocktail from Food For My Family | Bourbon Pumpkin Milkshakes from Minimalist Baker | Apple Cider Shandy from Stylish, Stealthy & (sometimes) Healthy | Preggy Punch Mocktail from A Spicy Perspective | Boozy Maple Peanut Butter Cup Milkshake from Girl vs. Dough | Maple Bacon Pisco Sour from Honestly Yum | Pink Grapefruit Margaritas from Cookin Canuck | Mezcal Citrico Cocktail from A Thought For Food | Pomegranate Rosemary Spritzer from A House in the Hills | Ginger Bourbon Apple Cider from The Novice Chef  | Citrus Cider Punch Floats from Bran Appetit

Burgers!
Meatloaf Veggie Burgers with Mashed Potatoes + Gravy from Edible Perspective | Easy Salmon BLT Sliders with an Avocado Aioli & Brie Recipe from DualFood | Balsamic Beef Burger with Mac and Cheese from Daisy At Home | Candied Bacon Maple Cheddar Burger from Cookies & Cups | Trashed-Up Steak Burger with Chicken Fried Bacon & Dijon Gravy from Climbing Grier Mountain | Bleu Cheese Burgers + Sweet Potato Fries from Dessert For Two | Fig Rosemary Roast Chicken Brie Brussels Sprout Panini from Country Clever | The Best Cheeseburger Soup from Foodie Crush | Spicy Sambal Chicken Meatball Sub with Eggs from Lady and Pups | Sweet Potato and Kale Grilled Cheese from Two Peas & Their Pod | Ultimate Breakfast Sandwich from Bake Your Day

Tacos!
Crunchy Ground Beef and Cheesy Tacos from Spoon Fork Bacon | Boozy Beef and Butternut Tacos from The Fauxmartha | Harvest Hash Breakfast Tacos from With Food + Love | Crispy Kale and Brussels Sprout Tacos with Bacon from Mountain Mama Cooks | Banh Mi Tacos with Spicy Sriracha Honey Sauce from Heather Christo |  Loaded Huevos Rancheros Tacos from A Couple Cooks | San Diego Lobster Street Tacos from Fitnessista

Desserts!
Salted Caramel, Dark Chocolate, and Brown Butter Shortbread Bars with Sprinkles from Table for Two | Mini Vanilla Loaf Cakes, All Trashed Up from My Name is Yeh | Pumpkin Spice Butterscotch Sprinkle Cupcakes from Picky Palate | Cake Batter Confetti Cupcakes from Sprinkle Bakes | Easy Homemade Funfetti Cake with Vanilla Buttercream from Averie Cooks | Trashed Up Shortbread Cookie Bars from Sweet Phi | Loaded Junk Food Brownies from Love & Olive Oil | Bakery Sugar Cookies from Lauren’s Latest | Peanut Butter, Banana, Honey and Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies from Cookie + Kate | Triple Layer Chocolate Cake with Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting from Flourishing Foodie | Salted Caramel Popcorn Ice Cream Cake from The Sugar Hit | Breakfast Cereal Cake Donuts from Hummingbird High | Triple Chocolate Vanilla Swirl Crumb Cake from Top With Cinnamon | Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sundaes from Bake at 350 | Lemon Layer Cake from Simple Bites | Baby Block Cake Pops from Bakerella | Chocolate Covered Grapefruit from She Wears Many Hats

Pizza!
Beer Battered Fried Calamari Pizza from Bev Cooks | Apple and Chicken Sausage Pizza with Macaroni and Cheese Stuffed Crust from Rachel Cooks | Trashed Up Barbecue Turkey Pizza from Foodie With Family | Pesto Potato Bacon Pizza from Shutterbean | Grilled Cheese Pizza from i am a food blog | Chili Cheese Dog Pizza from My Life as a Mrs | Steak + Blue Cheese Pizza with Crispy Fried Shallots and Honey Balsamic Drizzle from Simply Scratch | Beer Cheese Tater Tot Pizza from The Beeroness | Roasted Pumpkin Pizza from Yes I Want Cake | Bacon Mashed Potato Pizza from Two Red Bowls | Pork Banh Mi Pizza from Dula Notes | Trashed Up Mexican Pizza Pockets from Weelicious | Roasted Beet Pizza from Take a Megabite | Hard Cider Braised Pork with Sour Cherries and Cheesy Polenta from Hungry Girl Por Vida

The post Easy Salmon BLT Sliders with an Avocado Aioli & Brie Recipe appeared first on DualFood.

Things I’m obsessed with in life: cheese, butter and cheese…oh and chocolate. I love cheese so much that when I started working on this project with Whole Foods Market, I knew I wanted to feature their awesome cheese selection. It’s amazing, they have tons of cheeses from around the world and of course from around the country.

Thinking about holiday parties, I just remember as a kid and even as an adult, I have always enjoyed munching on cheeses. Now that I’m the one hosting my family and friends, cheese is a must.

Another challenge of holiday parties: the stress! My style of entertaining is serving a mixture of homemade items and store bought items and also some items that I’ve extended. I think it’s the best way to entertain. You don’t have to spend hours and hours in the kitchen to have a nice holiday party…and no one will know that not everything is not homemade! Here’s a great guide for your holiday party needs too!

When I went shopping at my local Whole Foods, the cheesemonger helped me pick out some cheeses. She mentioned that for a nice and well-rounded cheese platter, you want at least five cheeses and to have a variety. I love baked brie, and I love figs, so I made a baked brie in puff pastry with fig spread.

I also chose a few additional cheeses and a nice Italian salami to round out the platter even further. And I found some delicious crackers near the olive bar. Did I mention that Whole Foods has an amazing olive bar?

For the baked brie, you just need 4 ingredients — the three above and an egg. It only takes minutes to turn a few products you bought into something special.

Unwrap the puff pastry on a covered baking sheet. Add the brie and top with the fig spread.

Wrap the brie up and brush with an egg wash and put into the oven for 25 minutes. It's so good…and no one (mostly!) will know that it only took you just a few minutes to put together.

Here's everything else I bought for my cheese platter:

34 degrees Savory Crisps
Raincoast Crisps
Mammouth Cheddar (Wisconsin)
St. Soleil Soft Ripened Cheese washed with wine
Olives from the Whole Foods olive bar
Olli Salumeric Norcino Mild Salame with Sangiovese Wine (I'm absolutely obsessed with this salami!)
Spanish Manchego Cheese
Rogue Creamery – Rogue River Blue Cheese
Kerrygold Dubliner Cheese with Irish Stout

The anatomy of my cheese platter…I seriously can't wait to have my friends over so they can enjoy this. And that brie, look at it!

You'll notice I have a selection of hard cheeses, manchego and cheddar and the Irish dubliner cheese with a combo of blue and soft ripened cheeses. Not only are these a nice variety but they also suit different tastes. For someone like my husband who doesn't like blue cheese, I know he'll enjoy the cheddar and manchego. So I have something for everyone on this platter.

Print

Baked Brie with Fig Spread Recipe

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 50 minutes minutes

Servings 6 to 8

Ingredients

• 12.3 ounces Imported French Brie cheese wheel
• 14 ounces frozen puff pastry thawed
• 8.5 ounces organic fig spread
• 1 egg beaten
• 2 to 3 teaspoons cold water

Instructions

• Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place puff pastry on the covered baking sheet and unwrap. Optional: using a cookie cutter, cut out shapes to top your baked brie. Cut off the end of the puff pastry with shapes cut out and discard.
• Place brie on puff pastry in the middle. Add 3/4 to one full bottle of fig spread on top of the brie. Wrap the puff pastry and seal any open sides. Add cut out shapes on top.
• Mix egg and water in a small bowl. Using a pastry brush, brush egg wash on puff pastry. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown. Allow the baked brie to rest for 15 to 20 minutes before cutting open and serving.

So for that holiday party, come up with a game plan. Choose your menu items and decide what you can make and what you can buy. I had a loose idea of what I wanted this cheese platter to look like and I found the Whole Foods employees so helpful in recommending items for it. Don't be afraid to ask for help.

Set out your serving platters and serving utensils the day before so you're not scrambling for them the day of and be sure to take a breath and relax. It will all come together and the whole point is not to have the perfect party; the point is to have fun and spend time with friends and family!

PS Those Raincoast Crisps (to the right of the olives) — someone at Whole Foods recommended them to me and told me they are absolutely addictive. They were so right. They have seeds and flax and have different flavors. They pair really well with cheese and are downright amazing!

Do you have any holiday party tips and tricks? I would love to hear them? What kinds of foods do you feel are a must for a holiday party? Please share in the comments below!

Also, check out the Whole Foods Holiday Twitter party on Tuesday, December 10 at 7:00 PM ET and follow the #WFMHoliday hashtag on Twitter to join in. And be sure to register for the twitter party too!

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Whole Foods in partnership with Kitchen PLAY. I only work with brands that I love and opinions I express are always my own.

The post Baked Brie with Fig Spread appeared first on DualFood.

Did you know that February is National Cherry Month? What better way to celebrate than a Progressive Party from Kitchen PLAY? I love working with Casey and was so excited when she contacted me about this great opportunity.

Tart cherries are considered a super fruit and it's great that they are available throughout the year in dried form, frozen or as a juice. For my part with the appetizer, I was given the task to develop a recipe with the dried form of tart cherries.

I'm not sure why, I just immediately thought of pairing it with brie cheese. First, I made sure it would taste good together and it definitely does! You can put a couple of slices of brie and dried tart cherries on a cracker and it would a perfect snack or appetizer.

So then I thought, what about little mini pockets…but these aren't the sweet kind…they are savory!

I used a prep bowl (see top left corner) to cut out pieces of the pie dough. Added a couple of small slices of brie and a little bit of the dried tart cherries. I folded over the pie dough and pinched it shut.

After 10-12 minutes in the oven, you get this goodness…it doesn't have to look perfect. And I have to say, these mini pockets taste best right out the oven (let them cool for a couple of minutes, of course!).

The flakiness of the mini pocket and the creamy brie paired with the tart cherries, makes a great combination!

I hope you'll give these or one of the other recipes over at KitchenPLAY a try. (I can't wait to make a cocktail with the tart cherry juice and sprinkle the dried tart cherries over a salad!)

Print

Tart Cherry Mini Pockets with Brie

Servings 18 mini pockets

Ingredients

• 1 box of store bought pie dough I used Pillsbury (comes with 2 pie shells)
• 1/2 cup dried tart cherries
• approximately 1/2 lb brie wedge I used closer to 0.4 lb

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Allow the pie dough to sit out for at least 15 minutes before unrolling it. Unroll and using a rolling pin, roll it out a little bit thinner (to about an 1/8 inch). Using a circle cutter or cup, cut out 3 1/2 inch circles.
• Add a small slice or two of brie cheese and a few dried tart cherries. Don't over fill. Fold over and pinch closed. Repeat until baking sheet is full, about 9 or 10 mini pockets.
• Bake for 10-12 minutes until cheese is bubbly and the mini pockets are golden brown.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post, I was compensated for my participation in the Progressive Party Series over at KitchenPLAY. My opinions are always my own!

The post Easy Tart Cherry Mini Pockets with Brie Recipe appeared first on DualFood.