The Secret Life of Fluffy Potatoes

Now, I don't exactly remember where I read this, or who might have told me.  I do remember not believing it and sort of thumbing my nose at the thought.  After all, my father's side of the family hails from Idaho -they're meat and potato people.  And they boil their potatoes for mashing.  Plain and simple.  The day came, however, when time was against me to whip up some mashed potatoes in a hurry, and I finally relented.  Into the microwave my brave little potatoes went, and I prepared myself for the worst.

But oh the joy that followed!  They were so fluffy!  I couldn't believe it!  Thinking perhaps I had deceived myself, I made the next two batches the old fashioned way and each time regretted it.  Who knew that microwaving your potatoes was the secret to the fluffiest potatoes this side of... someplace with crazy fluffy mashed potatoes?

Really Fluffy Mashed Potatoes
Difficulty: Easy
Time: This heavily depends on the strength of your microwave.  Until recently, I was using the same 500w microwave I got on sale after I graduated high school.  It took that poor little thing a while to nuke a potato.  This Christmas, we upgraded to a large 1000w, and I can cook six golds (they're smaller than a russet, mind you) in about 15 minutes.
Serves: Depends on how many potatoes you cook, doesn't it?  ;-)  I usually do two small per person, or a small and medium, and sometimes even two medium per person.  Hungry hungry hippo... I mean husband.
Requires: Microwave, heavy microwave safe dish (think glass or ceramic) with a lid, fork

• Golden Yukon or Red Potatoes (This works with russets and whatnot, but they're more starchy and don't work or taste as good, in my opinion.  Reds work the absolute best.)
• Milk (I happened to have some fat-free half & half on hand, so that went into it)
• Butter (Mmmm, light yogurt-butter for me....)
• Salt/Pepper to taste
• Optional - Cauliflower (An old dieting trick; you can cook the cauliflower with the potatoes and mash it all together for a higher-fiber, lower calorie version.  The husband actually prefers the taste with cauliflower - go figure!)

1. Wash your potatoes.  'Cause dirty mashed potatoes are gross.
2. Fill your microwave-dish with about a half inch of water in the bottom. 
3. Add potatoes.  Don't stab with a fork - you'll let the moisture out of your potato as it cooks.  Microwaves cook from the inside out, so we want to keep that moisture inside to leave us with a mushy, fluffy potato.
   
4. Cover and microwave your potatoes (and cauliflower) on high for about 3-5 minutes per potato.  If you're cooking a lot, rotate them halfway and check their done-ness.  You don't want to overcook your potatoes.  If you don't have a lid for your dish, you can use a plate, and if you have to, plastic wrap.  I don't like microwaving plastic, but my mother does it all the time (after learning the fluffy-potato art from me).
5. When complete, you should be able to easily stab them with a fork and meet no raw-potato-feeling resistance.  Drain the water out.
   
6. Then mash with a fork or potato masher.  The art of milk and butter is an ancient one.  Add to your taste.  My father preferred more milk than we do; mine are a little drier (and hence firmer).  Same goes for salt and pepper.  If you're feeling adventurous, add some Laughing Cow cheese wedges.  Mmmm.  Cheese.
   

Pie Tad, anyone?

Oh wait, I mean Pad Thai. Our family might be slightly dyslexic, and instead of calling it Pad Thai we call it pie tad. Talk about a tongue twister; and now, even when I try to say it correctly, all I can think of is pie tad. I guess it is okay though since 2011 has been declared the year of the pie. Any way you say it, this is a great recipe.

Pad Thai with Chicken

1 14 oz. box of rice stick noodles

3 to 4 chicken breasts cut to bite size pieces

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 1/2 tablespoons Asian sweet chili sauce

2 tablespoon vegetable oil

3 large eggs

1 cup water

1/4 cup fish sauce

1/4 cup lime juice (2 large limes or 4 small ones)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 to 1/2 cup of peanut butter (I used JIF extra crunchy)

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/4 cup chopped roasted peanuts

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Take off heat and add noodles. Let soak until softened but not fully tender (a little less than twenty minutes). Drain.

2. Place chicken in a bowl with soy sauce and 1/2 tablespoon of chili sauce. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook until done, about 2 to 3 minutes per side and then set aside.

3. Add just enough oil to coat the pan (The amount will depend on how much you have left from the chicken). Cook the eggs, about one minute, stirring constantly and afterwards set with the chicken.

4. Add water, fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, chili sauce, peanut butter, red pepper flakes, and cayenne pepper to pan (feel free to add as much or as little of the hot stuff as you like). Stir and let thicken about two minutes. Add the noodles. Stir until they are well coated. Add the chicken, eggs, and cilantro and continue to cook (and stir) for about two minutes (this all depends on how soft you want your noodles). Serve with the roasted peanuts on top.

My best suggestion for this recipe is to be creative. Add as much heat, peanut butter, or additional ingredients (bean sprouts, broccoli, etc.) as you like.

How to Roast a Chicken

First, I usually attack those skinny legs and those ugly feet.  Then, I move onto the fact that the stupid bird has wings but can't fly.  There's always that whole "crossing the road" debacle, but that's hitting below the belt.  ... Oh, roast... as in the oven!  That's even easier.  Roasting chickens is one of my go-to stables for Sunday evenings.  The time and effort to prep one is minimal, but you do have to wait for the bird to finish cooking.  I was surprised to learn that several of my friends had never tried for fear it was difficult, but scout's honor, anyone can roast a chicken!

Roast Chicken

Difficulty: Easy!

Time: Max of 15 minutes of prep, 1.5-2 hours roasting

Serves: Different birds, different servings.  My husband could probably finish off an entire chicken on his own, but that's another story.
Requires: Something to roast it in - I usually use a 9x13 or my turkey roaster

• chicken
• oil (canola, olive, and peanut all work well)
• cooking spray
• extras optional (herbs, seasonings, etc)

1. Preheat your oven to 350.  Thoroughly clean a side of your sink.  Spray your roasting pan of choice with cooking spray and sit it next to your thoroughly clean sink.  Salmonella = bad mojo, so let's skip it, hm?
    
2. Carefully cut the wrapper off of the chicken and avoid piercing the skin.  Remove any organs from inside the bird and rinse the bird all over, inside and out.  (And yes, that is a chicken's behind staring you in the face below).  For those not in the know, there are openings on both ends of a chicken or turkey; check both for the organs.  I usually throw them out, I know some people cook them separately.  To each their own!
    
3. Pat the chicken dry and transfer to it's roasting pan.  If you want the bird to crisp all around, put an oven-safe rack of some kind in the bottom of the pan.  I used to do this, but since I generally carve the chicken before it makes it to the table, I stopped caring what the bottom of the chicken looks like.  I skip an extra dirty dish to clean and just let the bottom of the chicken stew in it's own juices.  Coat with the oil of your choice all over.
   
4. Do no salt.  I'm not kidding.  Don't do it.  You can season the crap out of this guy now, before baking, but avoid salt.  You'll get a juicier bird if you add salt once he's done roasting.  If you want to put herbs/seasoning under the skin, peel the skin carefully off the breast so that you can slide a finger or two between the breast and the skin.  Rub your seasoning between this gap for a flavorful bird.  In this case, I'm making a sauce to top my chicken with, so the bird is getting nothing but olive oil.
   
5. Bake at 350 until the breast shows 180.  I sometimes bake the chicken with the thermometer in place.  Avoid stabbing your chicken over and over again as you're taking it's temp; you'll let out the juice.  Just make sure you are testing the thickest part of the breast without hitting bone.  In the end, the bird will come out beautifully (see pic above)!  Let it sit for at least five minutes before carving, season to taste with salt and pepper.
   

Leave Room for Mushrooms

Portobellos.  The giant mushroom of happiness (sort of like a blue bird, but much tastier).  A stable in the diet of all my vegetarian friends, and a regular in our own household.  I love how absolutely diverse they are, along with that meaty, hint-of-earth texture and taste.  Here's a simple recipe made even faster care of Garden Harvest spice blends.

Lazy Pesto Portobellos

Difficulty: Easy

Time: 10-15 minutes

Serves: Depends on how much you make!

Requires: A love of goat cheese and basil, but no fancy kitchen doohickeys.

• portobello mushrooms, cleaned and dried (Rachel Ray says you should never run portobellos under the tap to wash, but insists the best way to wash them is using a damp rag.  I usually remember this after I've run them under the tap.  If you wash yours, make sure to dry them really good.)
• chevre goat cheese (a stable in my household; I used the leftovers from my chicken dish.)
• basil - either fresh and chopped or pureed, about 1/2 tbsp worth per mushroom
• garlic - either fresh or pureed - if using fresh, you'll want to cook it a bit before piling onto your mushrooms
• pine nuts

1. Heat a pan over medium-high heat.  Use a papertowel to wipe a layer of olive oil onto the pan.  This helps prevent oil splatters and keeps the food lighter.
2. Remove the stems if you like and coat your mushrooms with everyone's friend and our guest star from step one - Olive Oil.
   
3. Brown your mushrooms on both sides, about three or four minutes on each side, until nice and cooked through.  Some people like their portobellos a little less well done, so you could reduce to two minutes on each side.
4. Now, before adding any toppings, flip your mushrooms gill side down (if they're not already there) to drain off the excess liquid, then flip them gill side up.  Reduce heat to medium.  Using the back of a spoon, sprinkle/smear the garlic over the mushrooms.  This is to taste; I use about a tsp of pureed or half a clove of fresh per mushroom.  Next, sprinkle/smear your mushroom with the basil.  Like I mentioned in the ingredient list, I find about a 1/2 tbsp works best, but add to your tastes.  Finally, add as much goat cheese as you like to the mixture.  I've been told you can slide them under the broiler to brown the cheese, but I've never done this.
   
5. I like to toast my pine nuts, so while adding the other ingredients to my mushrooms, I start them browing in the pan.  I then removed the mushrooms and cooked the pine nuts to a golden brown before putting a healthy number on top of our mushrooms.  Pair with a nice salad and you've got a tasty, quick meal!
    

Chevre Me Timbers

Chevre.  Goat Cheese.  Who knew that goats could produce such deliciousness?  The first time I had goat cheese was a magical experience but I knew not what it was!  It was something of a hunt for the holy grail to discover that the delicious creaminess I had enjoyed is commonly called Goat Cheese or Chevre.  It pairs heavenly with chicken and is a super fancy way to dress up grilled chicken.  This recipe goes a little bit further and is great for both everyday meals and special occasions.

Chevre Chicken with Herb Reduction

Difficulty: Easy

Time: 15-20 minutes
Serves: Depends on how much you make!
Requires: A love of goat cheese, but no fancy kitchen doohickeys.

• chicken breasts (I find most breasts are huge, so I butterfly them into two for thinner breasts, otherwise you need to pound yours flatter to get the fast cook time)
• chevre goat cheese (This is not feta, don't get the two mixed up)
• olive oil
• 1 c. of chicken broth (This is a guesstimate, you'll see below)
• Optional - fresh/dried herb(s) of choice (Rosemary, sage, and thyme are standard chicken herbs)
• salt and pepper (Finishing salt, if you have any, pairs best)

1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Wipe it down with olive oil along the insides.  You'll find this light way of prepping a hot skillet minimizes hot oil popping and skips excess fat in your meal.
2. Put your chicken breasts in the pan and sear on both side to a nice golden color.  Reduce heat to medium and finish cooking.  You may be tempted to salt and pepper your chicken at this point, but resist the urge!  Adding salt at this point will pull moisture out of the chicken.  By searing on both sides and salting only once the chicken is done, you'll maximize the juiciness of the chicken breast.  Once done, set aside but leave the skillet on the stove.
   
3. Carefully (because this will splatter) add in enough chicken broth to cover about 1/2 inch of the hot skillet.  It'll start evaporating in a hurry, so add in your herbs (if you decided you want to use any; this does work well with no herbs) quickly and let it simmer away.  The longer it simmers, the more it picks up the herb flavoring.  If it reduces too much, add more chicken broth. 
    
   If you want, cut some extra herbs up for topping your chicken with.  A neat trick for leafy herbs is to take and lay them on top of one another.  Then roll them up together and slice thinly.  When you unroll the slices, you'll get nicely presentable herbs.
      
4. Pour reduction over chicken and top with as much goat cheese as you like.  We love the stuff, so our chicken got a healthy dosage.  I then popped it into the microwave for 30 seconds to soften the cheese before topping with the extra sage.

Date Night Pizza

Greetings, and welcome to my first post! I finally have enough of a kitchen in place that I feel like I can contribute a little, starting with this super easy pizza that E and I just made for date night. Also, this is the first time I've written about recipes, so bear with me if it takes me awhile to write about them effectively.

First, this wasn't the recipe I was planning to use for the dough. By the time E got done with all of his work, it was late enough that I didn't want to let the pizza dough rise (because we were starving) so I called up my friend Carly and got her quick pizza dough recipe. This recipe is good and quick, but if you choose not to let it rise, the pizza dough comes out a little chewy, though still tasty. If that's not your cup o' tea, plan ahead.

Another side note: I was told that you should let the pizza stone heat with the oven as it preheats, so we had some fun times transferring the pizza around with our cutting boards. You can also use parchment paper to roll out and prepare the pizza, and then you can put it directly on the pizza stone, which would also make cleanup easier. We just didn't have any and didn't want to wait.

Carly's Customizable, No-Rise-Necessary Pizza Dough


Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups warm water
1 Tbs active dry yeast
1 Tbs sugar
4-5 cups flour
1/4 cup oil
salt, pepper, or seasonings to taste

This is about half of the dough. The recipe makes enough for two pizzas.

Preheat your oven to 400.

Mix the water, yeast and sugar, and let sit for approximately 5 minutes. The mixture should be a little foamy. (I let it sit while I was seasoning my brand new pizza stone with a little olive oil and cornmeal.)

Add flour 1 cup at a time and mix. On Carly's advice, I added two cups of flour, then added the olive oil, then the rest of the flour. For me, it worked with just a little more than 4 cups, but depending on your climate, it could be 5. keep adding until it seems doughy, but not too sticky.

If desired, add salt, pepper, or other seasonings to your crust. I added a little Italian seasoning, and it was divine.

Divide the dough in half and form it into two balls. Stretch and flatten each ball with your hands until it's nice and flat. 

From here, go ahead and put on your sauce and cheese and other toppings and bake for 10-15 minutes at 400. We used regular old tomato sauce and mozzarella for the base, and on one one the pizzas, we just stuck it in the oven like that and threw the rest of the ingredients on 5 minutes before it came out of the oven. 

Other toppings we tried that were awesome: 

Green apples  - they bake up and are SO yummy

Fried mushrooms (instructions and pictures below)

Bacon

Fresh tomatoes

Feta (put it on a few minutes before the pizza comes out or it will burn)

I kid you not. The green apples are incredible. I want to try them again with walnuts.

E's Fried Mushrooms

Breadcrumbs or flour

1-2 eggs

fresh mushrooms

Oil for frying

Dip mushrooms in egg, then in breadcrumbs or flour. We did some of each, and they're both good, although I prefer bread crumbs if you have any on hand. Fry them in hot oil in a frying pan, turning with a fork halfway through. Allow to dry on a paper towel and eat or put on pizza. Delicious. 

Don't be afraid to get messy. 

Mmmm. 

You might want to fry a few extra to eat sans pizza.

We put them on both of our pizzas because they were so good, but like the feta, they burn if you put them on too early. We threw them on just before the pizza came out and baked a little feta on top. 

Apple, fried mushrooms and feta.

Fresh tomato, fried mushrooms, bacon, feta. Also, note that my pizza stone will probably be stained with feta forever because of a little spill. Sigh.

We had a blast experimenting with ingredients and making the pizza together, but it would also make a fun and easy dinner any time.

Crazy-Easy Creamy Sweet Potato Soup

Mmm, the joys of soup on a cold day.  Double mmm when that soup can be orange!  This great creamy soup recipe is super easy and you can substitute just about any cooked vegetable that'll puree nicely for the sweet potato.  I love to make this soup on Sunday's.  I come home from church, pop a couple sweet potatoes in the oven, turn the oven off once they're done and let them chill out for a while until I'm ready to make the soup.

Three things to note: first, I know I have steps written out below, but when I'm in a hurry or feeling lazy, I just combine the puree with all the other ingredients and simmer to desired thickness.  Second, the amounts in this recipe are completely forgiving.  I don't measure anything, I completely eyeball the ingredients.  Lastly, in terms of the ginger... I used to grate my own (it's easiest when frozen FYI).  But then my grocery stores started carrying Gourmet Garden blends.  LOVE THEM.  They work and taste like fresh, but have two to three month shelf lives, all the while saving you time and keeping your knuckles away from the grater. 

Creamy Sweet Potato/Butternut Squash/Carrot/Etc Soup
Difficulty: Easy
Time: Not counting baking the sweet potatoes, 15 minutes
Serves: 4 good-sized bowls
Requires: Blender

• 2 cooked sweet potatoes (the bigger the thicker soup)
• 2 c. of chicken broth (I love Pacific's Free Range, btw - it tastes GREAT)
• 1/2 tbsp. to 1 tbsp. freshly grated ginger/puree of ginger (yeah Gourmet Gardens!)
• 1 tbsp. butter (whipped, margarine, light... whatever you have)
• 1 c. evaporated milk (I always get fat free)
• Optional: toasted pecans

1. In a blender, puree the first three ingredients until a beautiful orange smoothie.
2. In a large sauce pan, melt the butter over medium and add the flour.  Stir until bubbly.
3. Add in the evaporated milk and cook until thickened.  Like I said before, I'm guilty of sort of jumping through these steps, and you can always simmer it later if it's too thin for you.
4. Add in the puree from step one and simmer till desired thickness.
5. Season with salt and pepper and the toasted pecans.  Mmmmm tasty orange goodness!

Chocolate Mousse of Utter Joy

There are a lot of chocolate mousse recipes, and I have tried many.  The older recipes often call for raw eggs, so I've found that newer recipes tend to triple the whipping cream content in place of the eggs.  Personally, the texture is infinitely better with the raw egg versions, and considering it's a mousse, texture is sort of the point!  I think they taste better too, and they're nowhere near as heavy as some of the pure whipping cream versions.

But I am also a wimp.  I avoid eating raw egg, which is a problem since I LOVE ice cream with raw eggs, mousse with raw eggs, cookie dough, etc.  What's a salmonella-fearing girl to do?  Answer - pasteurized eggs.  They're more expensive, and I know some regions have limited availability.  Still, if you don't have problems finding them, they whip and beat and taste just like their unpasteurized cousins.

P.S.  Some of the pictures are from the semisweet chocolate version I made and some are from a white chocolate version (my poor grandmother can't have real chocolate).  The white chocolate works, but it doesn't work well.  It's a lot harder to melt and doesn't cooperate as much as the real deal.

Chocolate Mousse - Tweaked from Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook, 1989 edition
Difficulty: Hard (mostly because it's time consuming, and whipping egg whites can be a pain for the inexperienced)
Time: Depending upon your skill level, expect at least an hour (I had to wash bowls a couple times between steps).

Serves: The original recipe says 6, but it's small servings for 6.  It's large servings for 4.  Take your pick.
Requires: Mixer (stand preferred)

• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. water
• 3 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped (I really like the Nestle baking bars cause they're thin and easy to chop)
• 2 eggs, separated with yolks beaten.  For whipping egg whites, make sure the yolks are intact when you separate; even the slightest bit of oil or yolk in your whites will spell your eternal doom.  Well... maybe not that bad, but you'll at least have to separate new eggs!
• 1/8 tsp. cream of tartar
• 2 tbsp. sugar 
• 1/2 c. whipping cream

1. In a small, heavy saucepan, combine the 1/4 c. sugar and water.  Continuously stir over medium-low until the sugar dissolves.  Add the chocolate and stir over low heat until the chocolate completely melts.  Now, you CAN use chocolate chips, but chocolate chips have a higher wax quantity and it's much harder to get the chocolate to COMPLETELY melt.  If you don't completely melt your chocolate, you won't get as smooth a mousse.
     
2. After the chocolate is melted, slowly add it to your egg yolks in a separate bowl.  This is why it's important to melt the chocolate over low and to stir the egg yolks as you mix them together - too hot, or too fast without stirring, and you'll have strings of cooked yolk in your mousse!  Return the mixture to the pot and bring to a gentle boil for two minutes.  Set aside and cool to lukewarm, stirring occasionally.  Seriously - don't forget to stir it.  I'm warning you.
   
3. In a bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar with an electric mixer on high speed till soft peaks form.  The level of humidity affects the amount of time it takes to get egg whites to soft peaks, so a stand mixer is invaluable in the humid parts of the South (and nice everywhere else).  Once you have soft peaks, add the 2 tbsp of sugar slowly and beat until stiff peaks form.  The last time I made mousse, it was hot and raining outside, and I never QUITE got stiff peaks.  Get as close as you possibly can and then beat the whipped cream below to stiff peaks to compensate.
    
4. Pour the lukewarm chocolate mixture over the beaten egg whites and fold the mixture until completely smooth.  Don't scrap the sides of the chocolate mixture when you're pouring it; you may get hardened, unstirred bits of chocolate in your mousse.
   
5. Beat the whipping cream till soft peaks form (hard if you're in a humid climate with wimpy egg whites or just enjoy a more stiff mousse).  Add to the chocolate/egg white mixture and fold till consistent.  Spoon into dessert dishes and garnish with whipped cream, fresh fruit, chocolate curls, etc.  Refrigerate for at least 4 hours; I usually make this recipe the night before I plan to serve it.  I was so excited to be done... I forgot to take a picture of it.  Ha!
   

Recipe Review: HG's Sassy Wonton Tacos

For those not in the know, HG stands for Hungry Girl.  It's a great site that focuses on making healthier alternatives to everday favorites (her alfredo recipe rocks).  She even has Weight Watchers points listed for all of her recipes.  I highly recommend subscribing to their mailing list.  She does a lot of restaurant swaps, and in this recipe she took on Applebee's new wonton tacos. 

Now, to be fair, I find for every HG recipe I enjoy, there are probably three that I do not.  I went into this one a little skeptical and without some of the right ingredients, so I used my own swaps.  I was also short on time, so I used chicken-in-a-pouch over fresh.  Even with all that, they turned out to be pretty tasty!  I paired them with a salad and they were a nice meal for two in no time!  That Kraft Light Toasted Sesame, btw, was to die for!

  

Cooking Product Review: Williams-Sonoma's Star Wars™ Heroes & Villains Cookie Cutters

These cookie cutters are, to be brief, awesome.  Williams-Sonoma has an entire line of Star Wars themed cookery at the moment.  This set in particular had four cutters, but I didn't bake any Boba Fett cookies.  Ya, heretic, I know.  You can find your own set here.

The picture of the professionally iced set on the box is great, but I can't do that (and I'm betting neither can you).  Instead, I just dyed the dough, and the results were great!  Use a 3:1 green:yellow ratio with Yoda, and 1-3 ounces of melted chocolate for Darth.  I used the Williams-Sonoma recipe for the cookie dough itself.  Their recipe rolled and cut really nice, though it's not the best tasting sugar cookie recipe.

To Brie or Not to Brie... En Croute

My first exposure to brie was in my ninth grade French class for our French food festival.  Growing up, my family was far from adventurous eaters, and the finer things in life (like brie) were just starting to make themselves known.  Eating brie was a turning point in my pursuit of all things delicious.

I have a confession, though.  I can't stand the white rind on room temperature brie.  However, in BAKED brie, it's just fine.  =)  This is a Brie En Croute recipe and is about as simple as it goes!  It does great for get togethers, fancy potlucks, and holidays.

Brie En Croute/Baked Brie
Difficulty: Crazy Easy
Time: Assembly 5min, Baking 20-25min
Serves: 6-10 depending upon size of brie and hunger of guests
Requires: You might need a rolling pin, but you could use a glass or something instead

• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed (usually takes about 45 minutes)
• 6-8oz Brie
• Your Favorite Topping Combos:
• 1/4c. your favorite jam (raspberry is a favorite combo), 2 tbsp. of your favorite nut (almonds and pecans are great choices)
• 1/4c. sauteed mushrooms, 1/4c. caramelized onions
• 1/4c. sauteed mushrooms, 4 tbsp. of your favorite fresh herb
• Your Favorite Serving Combos:
• Fancy-smancy crackers
• Baguette slices (cut at an angle to be extra fancy)
• Apple Slices
• A spoon.....
• Optional: 1 egg yolk, 2-3 tbsp. whipping cream/half-and-half

1. Preheat your oven to 425
2. Place your brie in the center of your puff pastry and note where the edges are - you can kind of press the brie in a little to leave an indention.  For an 8-inch brie, you may need to roll the pasty out a little.  Remove the brie.
3. Where the brie rested, pile your choice of toppings, like the jam and nuts.  Put the brie on top of them.
4. Fold the puff pastry around your topping and brie.  Press the folds together to seal, and cut off any excess if you need.  Place the folded side face down on a sprayed cooking sheet.
5. If you want your pastry to be nice and shiny, combine the egg yolk and whipping cream and then smear the mixture over the top of the brie.
6. Bake until golden brown, about 20-25 minutes.  Let the brie cool before serving, at least 5 minutes, but it will retain heat pretty good.  Mine had about fifteen or twenty minutes of resting time this Christmas, but it was still warm and melty.
7. Serve with your favorite side items and enjoy!