Watermelon Daquiri

Last summer, I went thru a watermelon kick. Kroger's had some awesome sales on watermelon that I just kept eating it and eating it and eating it. So, I decided to make a drink where I could incorporate watermelon. I thought to myself that a daquiri would be a really refreshing drink, and I could freeze the left-over watermelon. So, I went searching online for some recipes and found one that called for watermelon, sugar, water, and fresh lime. However, when I tried that recipe it wasn't sweet enough for me. I thought to myself that it's probably because the sugar is going into a cold drink and thus doesn't dissolve. So, I decided to use my signature sugar syrup. Okay, not really signature. But, it's my go to for sweetning drinks. Once I incorporated the simple syrup into the watermelon daquiri it really made the drink. Enjoy on one of these record breaking hot days!

Ingredients:
1 cup watermelon (or more)
Juice from 1 lime
1/8 c to 1/4 c simple syrup (heat till sugar dissolves 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water)
1 jigger light Rum
glass of crushed ice

Puree in a blender until smooth. This makes about one big glass of daquiri.
Garnish with a lime wedge or watermelon slice.

(Click here for printable recipe)

Mystic Pizza

One of my favorite movies of Julia Robert’s is Mystic Pizza. The movie revolves around a family of sisters who own a pizza shop and go thru heartache, happiness, and sadness. The pizza in the movie is one of the stars as well. Thus, this particular recipe is called: Mystic Pizza. This recipe actually came out of the Cooking Light edition back in 1998. I remember trying it for the first time in our home in Brandermill. My mom made it for us and I just loved it. I brought this recipe back to life about 3 years ago, and have continued to make it since. It’s a very easy recipe and it really doesn’t take long to make. Trust me don’t be scared of creating your own dough. It’s really easy and if you use the Fast Rise yeast as opposed to the Active Rise yeast it will go even quicker. And, I’ve never added cornmeal to this recipe. What also makes this recipe fun is that you can choose any ingredient you want to top the pizza with, and you can experiment with the tomato sauce. I have stopped putting fennel, red pepper flakes, and I’ve never added fresh cilantro in the sauce. I use dried basil, oregano, and cilantro. I add a bit of sugar and salt to the tomato sauce as well as a clove of garlic and it’s really good. Though, their recipe is great, too.

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 package quick-rise yeast (2 1/2 teaspoons)
• 1/2 cup warm water (105° to 115°)
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
• Cooking spray
• 2 teaspoons cornmeal
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh or 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro
• 3/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 (8-ounce) can no-salt-added tomato sauce
• 1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Preparation

Normally, I use rapid yeast, which makes this process so much easier. Basically, you put one pouch of yeast into a bowl, lightly spoon 1/4 cups flour and level it with a knife, pour in the sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, lightly pour in the olive oil, and then pour in the warm water. Stir quickly until it forms a soft dough.
Sometimes I add just a little bit of flour so it isn't too wet. Dump the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. It says to knead until smooth and elastic which is about 10 minutes. I usually only do it for about 5 minutes and it turns out just fine. Again, I have to add some flour just to make sure it doesn't stick too much to my hands when kneading the dough. Next, place the dough in a bowl coated with cooking spray; turn to coat the top. I cover it with some plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm oven (85°) for about 30 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

Take out the dough, and punch your fist into it. Then roll it out onto a floured surface. Then place onto your pizza pan. Crimp the edges if you like and let the dough stand for 10 minutes covererd. I usually skip that part, too.
Preheat oven to 450°.

Punch dough down; roll dough into a 12-inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Place dough on a baking sheet or 12-inch pizza pan coated with cooking spray and sprinkled with cornmeal. Crimp edges of dough to form a rim. Let dough stand, covered, 10 minutes.

In a small sauce pan, I add a clove of garlic, a small can of tomato sauce, some salt, some oregano, cilantro, basil, and pepper, and I cook for about 10 minutes until the sauce is very warm. I skip the fennel seeds and I use dried herbs. Spread sauce over pizza crust; sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 450° for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and crust is golden. Remove pizza to cutting board; cut into wedges.

(Click here for printable recipe)

Lattice-topped Blackberry Cobbler

We have a monthly dinner tradition with some of our neighbors. Each month, someone hosts, and every couple brings either the main course, an appetizer, or a dessert. Tonight, it was my turn for dessert, and you know how I can get carried away…

Somehow for a rather simple recipe, I still made of mess of my kitchen. How is there a white flour-like mess on my counter tops after the only powder-like ingredient I used was corn starch, and I only used 3 tablespoons. Kitchen messes continue to be a mystery.

Ingredients: 
2 Pie crusts (Pillsbury always works for me)
48 oz. blackberries (4, 12 oz. containers)
2/3 cup sugar
3 tbsp corn starch
1 tbsp lemon juice.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Unroll one pie crust along the bottom of your pie pan. After rinsing blackberries, mix blackberries, sugar, corn starch and lemon juice in a bowl. Pour this bowl’s contents into pie pan. Roll out the second pie crust on a cutting board, and slice it into 1 inch strips. Remember how you latticed construction paper in elementary school to make Easter baskets? Follow suit with these strips of dough, pressing together the edges. Dabbing this lattice with melted butter has a pretty browning effect. Bake for 15 minutes at 450, and then reduce heat to 375 for the remaining 40-45 minutes. Covering the edges of the pie with aluminum foil or a pie guard can prevent over-browning the outer crust.

I served it with a scoop of Turkey Hill vanilla ice cream on top. (I learned today by perusing the ice cream in the Kroger freezer that Turkey Hill was one of the few ice creams without corn starch and with all natural ingredients. They were not the only one to claim “natural ingredients” but they were the only one where I understood and could picture each and every ingredient on the list. Sorry to sound like a commercial, but I needed to share my discovery.)

In the end, it turned out pretty well. It was tasty, but it was an absolute mess. I think it needs more of a breadcrumb or something similar in the middle with the blackberries to hold it together in actual slices. I'll definitely try it again, though.

Happy cooking!

-KSP


(Click here for printable recipe)

Iron Chef Melon: Thornton Melon Ball

I thought I would go for a drink in this particular Iron Chef. It's hard to win one of these with a Drink, but you never know. I found this particular recipe a year ago for Sara's bachelorette party. We did a drink contest, and I went with my Mojito recipe instead. This drink concept is from Rodney Dangerfield's movie Back to School. And, Guy Fieri posted the drink on Food Network's website.

I didn't win, but it's a really good drink.

Ingredients
Ice
1 part your favorite vodka
1 part melon liqueur (recommended: Midori or generic brand) 
Orange juice
Various melon balls (cantaloupe, honeydew, or watermelon - using all 3 is called "Triple-Lindy" and is definitely money)

This drink can be served straight up or on the rocks. To make this drink straight up: Place in a cocktail shaker; ice, vodka, melon liqueur, and a splash orange juice; shake vigorously and then strain into a large, chilled martini glass and garnish with melon balls. I made mine on the rocks. I just added ice to a glass and poured the vodka, melon liqueur, and enough orange juice to fill the glass. Then, I stirred and garnished with the melon balls. (Click here for printable recipe)

Iron Chef Melon: Chicken Meatballs in a Barbecue Sauce and Watermelon Puree

Iron Chef strikes again, and this time, I decided it was time to up my game, both on my recipe and my presentation.

When I was a kid, my mother used to always wow friends and neighbors at Fourth of July barbecues with her watermelon bowls. These were not simple affairs. After gutting the melon of its fruit in perfect red balls, the rind was cleaned into a flawless bowl. Edges were curved or decorated with zig-zags. Sometimes, the melon would be more of a basket, with a wicker-like handle carved with an artist’s hand. My mother was a melon master, and maybe those genes were what led to my creation.  


Or maybe, I just got carried away…

My entry was Chicken Meatballs in a Barbecue Sauce and Watermelon Puree, and my watermelon bowl was formed with an artist-want-to-be’s hand into a hedgehog (toothpicks giving the creature its spikes).

Ingredients: 
5 pounds of ground chicken
5 eggs
2.5 cups of Panko breadcrumbs 
Roughly 3 cups of Carolina Treet barbecue sauce
Roughly 3 cups of pureed (seedless) watermelon.

Mix ground chicken, eggs, and panko breadcrumbs, and form into small balls. Brown balls in a skillet until cooked through (roughly 20 minutes). As meatballs are finished (this took me a few batches), place into crock pot to keep warm. Scoop out watermelon and puree in a blender. Mix pureed watermelon with barbeque sauce and pour over meatballs in crock pot. Stir to cover evenly. Keep warm until ready to serve.

Hedgehog watermelon bowl inspired by this website: http://www.watermelon.org/recipe_detail.asp?recipeDisp=360

This was my first time making meatballs, and apparently it was a success. I walked away with my first Iron Chef winning night.

Happy cooking!

-KSP


(Click here for printable recipe)

Cowboy Spice Rub

I’m not sure what makes this “cowboy spice,” exactly. I mean, if you think about it, the cowboys out there herding cattle across Texas probably don’t carry around a menagerie of spices in their saddle bags. Gotta think salt and pepper are pretty much it. But name aside, this spice rub is pretty delicious.

This makes more spice rub than you’ll need, but you’ll probably want to make it and save the rest for another meal. Apparently it’s pretty good on other meats too. I got this one from a blog called “Choosy Beggars.”

1.5 tbsp smoked paprika

1 tbsp chipotle chili powder

1 tbsp brown sugar

2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1.5 tsp garlic salt

1 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

3/4 tsp kosher salt, or to taste

Pretty much the only change I would recommend to this is to cut back on the cinnamon a little. The next time I might add a little cayenne to it as well (which I add to almost any recipe, actually). Just mix up the spices, making sure they are uniformly mixed, and rub generously into whatever meat you want (we used pork tenderloin), then let it rest in the fridge for about 30-45 minutes. You could probably let it sit in the rub even longer for stronger flavor, but it worked for us pretty quickly. Then you simply cook it, and eat it! We broiled ours and served it with a nice arugula salad. But I think grilling would put a nice tasty caramelized char on it with that brown sugar. Or you could do it the cowboy way and throw it over an open campfire and eat it with your bare hands. Totally up to you.

(Click here for printable recipe)

Sausage Cheese Breakfast Casserole

My family is not a breakfast casserole family. I don’t know why. It’s not like we don’t enjoy them when someone else makes them. It just wasn’t something I ever had growing up. It might be because my mom makes a killer cinnamon bun. Or because we preferred those Entemann’s streudels. Whatever the reason, I decided it was time to put an end to our shunning of this great breakfast option. I found this recipe on my favorite site, epicurious, and made it for a recent party. It was very tasty warm, and good reheated the next day as well.

8 bread slices, cut into cubes

1 pound bulk pork sausage, crumbled and cooked

1/2 small white or yellow onion

1 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar

12 large eggs

2 cups milk

2 teaspoons dry mustard

1 teaspoon salt

Pepper

What I really like about this recipe is that it’s a great base to build from. You can add and change the ingredients to make it your own. For example, the recipe calls for white bread, but you could use any bread you like to change the flavor. Just make sure you cut the crusts off. I used sourdough and recommend it. I also chose to use Jimmy Dean’s Hot Sausage to spice things up a little bit. You could throw in peppers, broccoli, spinach, or anything else you like with your egg.

You definitely want to make this the night before so the bread has all night to soak up the egg mix. Start by greasing a 9 by 13 inch glass baking dish and then spreading out the bread cubes. Sauté the onions with the sausage and add the mixture over the bread. Also, sprinkle some of your cheese over the sausage. In a bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, mustard, salt and pepper. Here you could add other spices if you wish to change the flavor (cayenne, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, etc.). Pour the egg mixture over the sausage and bread, and then top with the rest of the cheese. Cover it and stick it in the fridge overnight, and in the morning when you wake up, pop it in the oven at 350 degrees. It’ll take about 45-50 minutes to puff up, and then you can dig in! It’ll be a family favorite in no time. 


(Click here for printable recipe)

Spiced Chicken

It’s Memorial Day, and what do you do on Memorial Day? You grill out, of course! I had a chicken marinade recipe I wanted to post at the start of May, but I misplaced the ingredients. Then, I left the country for a few weeks, (teaser: eastern European recipes will be posted here soon), so here is my much delayed return to the blog. Glad to be back! Happy Memorial Day and start to the summer!

I completely improvised this one, so I do not have exact ingredient amounts. Here’s exactly what I did, though.

Ingredients: 
Olive oil
3 Chicken Breasts
1 shake of minced garlic (per side per chicken breast)
2 shakes of salt (per side per chicken breast)
2 grinds of ground pepper (per side per chicken breast)
5-6 shakes of dried oregano (per side per chicken breast)
3 shakes of dried basil (per side per chicken breast)
2 shakes of dried red pepper flakes (per side per chicken breast)

This one’s pretty self explanatory from the above list. Coat chicken breasts in olive oil, and then spice as directed above. Grilling 6-8 minutes per side would probably be the easiest directions here and would probably seal in the juices perfectly, but I started cooking and realized I needed to delay dinner; ergo, with the ever adapting dinner plan, I ended up baking this chicken at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. It turned out deliciously. I added on rolls, pasta, and mixed veggies.

Happy cooking!

-KSP


(Click here for printable recipe)

Skillet Spaghetti

I wanted to find a spaghetti recipe to spice up my normal tomato sauce and noodles. I was browsing through recipes online and came across this one that peaked my interest. It is very simple to make, but incorporates gooey cheese and plenty of sauce into the noodles. You cook the noodles in a "skillet" instead of in a saucepan full of water, which is perfect for those of you who have problems getting the noodles just right. And, it leaves plenty of room to give you the opportunity to spice it up even further by adding additional herbs, different types of cheese, etc.

28 oz Jar Spaghetti Sauce
1-1/2 c Water
12 oz Spaghetti pasta, broken in half
1/2 c Shredded mozzarella
1/2 c Parmesan

In 12" skillet, I combined the spaghetti sauce and water and stir. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Then add the spaghetti and stir well, making sure spaghetti is "under" the sauce, completely covered in it. If necessary you can add a bit more water, which I've found myself needing to do. Or, you can add more tomato sauce. Then you bring to a boil again, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 20-25 minutes. Stirring frequently. You may add more water or tomato sauce if the mixture appears too dry. Cook until spaghetti is al dente and top with cheese.

(Click here for printable recipe)

Armbruster Strawberry Chicken Salad

So, I was stunned to find out that not everyone likes fruit in their Salad. How can this be? Fruit livens up salads in so many ways; it provides sweetness, coolness, and freshness to a salad. So, whoever doesn't like fruit in their salad is missing out on some awesome salads. And, this is one of them.
This salad has been around my family for many years, and I don't know where my mom got the recipe. I highly doubt she got it from the Internet, so it was probably from a magazine. But, it is a very delicious salad, and easy to make. Feel free to serve it with some crusty French Bread.
I'm only going to give you the portions for a serving of one person.

2 Chicken Breast diced
1/3 cup Flour
Salt & Pepper
1 tbsp Oil
1 Head of Romaine Lettuce

1 Bag of Cole Slaw Mix or Shredded Red Cabbage
1/4 cup Red Onion chopped (as finely as you want)
1/2 can of Crispy Chow Mein noodles ( or sprinkle as much as you want)
1/4 cup Slivered Almonds (or sprinkle as much as you want)
2 cups Sliced Strawberries
Armbruster Honey-Sesame Dressing maybe about 1/2 the bottle (you used to be able to get this dressing at Ukrops, but I'm not sure if Martin's is carrying it. However, my mom said you can get it at Ellwoods)

First slice up your chicken breast into small cubes and toss in a bag of about 1/3 cup of flour, a little salt, and a little black pepper. Then saute in a saute pan dashed with some oil until chicken is done. Place on a paper towel and let cool for a bit.

Toss lettuce, chopped onions, strawberries, chow mein noodles, and slivered almonds. Pour in the dressing to your liking and toss chicken into salad. Make sure salad is evenly covered in the dressing. Enjoy.

If you can't find the Armbruster Honey-Sesame Dressing then use this homemade version:

Mix:
1/2 c. sugar
1 1/3 Tbs dry mustard
1 1/3 tsp paprika
1 1/3 tsp celery seed
1/8 tsp salt

Blend in:
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cider vinegar
1 Tbs lemon juice
1/4 Tbs minced onion
3/4 cup wesson oil
3/4 Tbs sesame oil

Mix dry ingredients in a small bowl, and then beat in the liquid mixture in a slow steady stream using a wire whisk. Keep beating until the mixture is thick. Enjoy!

(Click here for printable recipe)

Marinated Chicken Breast

During warm weather season I'm all about cooking on the grill. Whether I'm grilling zucchini, corn, chicken, pork, or squash it's all so good and so easy. So, to keep things from getting too monotonous I try to find different kinds of marinade recipes. I can't remember where I found this particular recipe (probably somewhere on the Internet) but I can tell you it is very easy and very delicious. I don't modify this recipe much although I always use White Wine Vinegar and plenty of seasoning including; rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil, and crumbled bay leaves. I hope you like it.

1 to 2 tbsp vinegar; like red wine, balsamic, or white wine
2 to 3 tbsp herb; like thyme, oregano, rosemary, or crumbled bay leaf
1 to 2 tbsp dijon mustard
1 to 2 tsp garlic or onion powder
1/4 c extra-virgin olive oil
kosher salt
ground pepper

Combine all ingredients and pour over chicken in a ziplock bag.
Marinate up to an hour or longer.

(Click here for printable recipe)

Mexican-style Chicken

Just in time for Cinco de Mayo! I’ve been eating low fat and healthy for almost three months now and the one thing I desperately miss is Mexican food. I think I’ve found the perfect solution. Or maybe I’ve been so deprived that I could eat a Chihuahua chimichanga and it’d still taste good. I made a “light” (sort of) version of this recipe, but you can use the real stuff and I’m sure it’d be even better. It makes a lot, so you may want to cut the ingredients in half if you don’t want a ton of leftovers.

2 10 ¾-oz cans condensed cream of chicken soup
1 10-oz can diced tomatoes with green chiles, undrained
¾ chopped green sweet pepper
½ cup chopped onion
1 ½ teaspoon chili powder
¼ teaspoon black pepper
12 6- or 7-inch corn tortillas, cut into thin, bite-size strips
3 cups cubed cooked chicken (about 1 lb. boneless chicken breasts )
1 8-oz pkag (2 cups) shredded cheddar cheese

Mix the soup, tomatoes with chiles, sweet pepper, onion, chili powder and black pepper. Now you have have to layer it all together. Sprinkle about 1/3 of the tortilla strips over the bottom of an ungreased 13x9x2-inch baking dish. Layer half of the cooked chicken over tortilla strips; thena about half of the soup mixture on top. Sprinkle half of the cheese (cheese makes everything better) and another 1/3 of the tortilla strips over the soup mixture. Layer with the rest of the chicken, soup mixture and tortilla strips.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or until bubbly around the edges. Add the rest of the cheese once you take it out. The recipe says to let it stand for 10 minutes, but I can never wait.

The next day I heated up a portion and rolled it into an extra corn tortilla for a type of enchilada. Delicioso!

(Click here for printable recipe)

Mojito-marinated chicken breasts

Keeping with the mojito theme and because I have a lot of mint growing in my yard, I decided to try a new recipe out of Bon Appetit's Fast Easy Fresh cookbook. This is the first recipe I've tried out of my new cookbook and I have to say it was very tasty. You could definitely taste the hint of mint in the chicken. I ended up only marinading the chicken for an hour and completely forgot to flip the plastic bag. However, it still turned out great. I don't have mint syrup, so I created my own mint syrup as indicated below. I just dumped the contents in the saucepan to the small bowl with the rest of the ingredients for the marinade. The mint syrup is very similar to the simple syrup I made for my Mojito drinks except for the added mint. Enjoy.

Look for mint syrup in the coffee and tea aisle at the super market. If it is unavailable, you can make one by stirring 1/4 cup sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves; mix in 2 tbsp chopped mint and cool.

3/4 c fresh lime juice
1/2 c plus 2 tbsp light rum
1/2 c finely chopped fresh mint plus whole sprigs for garnish
6 tbsp mint syrup
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp coarse kosher salt
6 chicken breast halves with skin and bones

3 large limes, quartered lengthwise

Whisk lime juice, 1/2 cup rum, chopped mint, mint syrup, oil, and salt in bowl. Place chicken in resealable plastic bag. Pour marinade over; seal bag. Turn bag to distribute marinade. Chill at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours, turning bag twice.

Place lime quarters in shallow bowl. Pour remaining 2 tablespoons rum over, tossing to coat. Let stand at room temperature.

Prepare barbeque (medium heat). Grill chicken until cooked thorough, about 16 minutes per side. Transfer to platter.

Grill limes until soft and slightly charred, about 5 minnutes. Garnish platter with mint sprigs. Squeeze grilled limes over chicken.

(Click here for printable recipe)

Apricot Pork Chops

Cooking tonight’s dinner, I was a technological marvel. It’s true. I was channeling Judy Jetson. Sadly, the phenomenon was not the cooking technique or culinary gadgetry. Today, I got a new cell phone – the Droid Eris – and along with it a Bluetooth. I cooked dinner tonight, while on the phone, with both of my hands free for stirring, chopping onions, and turning pork chops with the greatest of ease.

Not impressed? You should be. This was my first Bluetooth experience. I got to chat with my brother while whipping up tonight’s new recipe. My new phone, its accessories, and tonight’s dinner turned out wonderfully.

You may notice I have an apricot marmalade trend forming. That’s just because it’s hard to find a small jar of it, so I want to use it all before it goes bad!

This picture is from my new phone, but I haven't yet figured out proper settings for it. I may have accidentally taken this as an action shot.

Ingredients:

4 (4-ounce) boneless loin pork chops
1/4 cup prechopped onion
1/4 cup apricot preserves
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sliced green onion

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add pork to pan; cook 6 minutes on each side or until done. Remove from pan; keep warm.

Add prechopped onion to pan; sauté 4 minutes or until lightly browned. Stir in preserves, soy sauce, garlic, and salt; cook 3 minutes or until thickened. Add pork to pan, turning to coat. Sprinkle with green onions.

Recipe from MyRecipes. 

Peach preserves or marmalade could be used instead of apricot marmalade if you wanted to mix up this recipe. Also, I did not use a single measuring spoon while I was cooking. All of my measurements were guesstimates, but the result turned out tasty.

Finally, as a note, I promise my next post won’t involve apricots!

Happy cooking!

-KSP


(Click here for printable recipe)

Iron Chef Wine: Brie with Drunk Raisins

1 1/2 cups water

1 cup Chardonnay

1/4 cup sugar

1 tbsp of vanilla extract

1 cup golden raisins

1 wheel of brie or camembert

1 french baguette

In a medium-size saucepan, combine the water, wine and sugar. Bring to simmer over medium-high heat until the sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes. Add vanilla extract to the sauce and stir. Add sauce to the raisins in a medium bowl. Let the sauce & raisins cool at room temperature for one hour then refrigerate overnight. I only refrigerated for a couple of hours and while it was still good, I don't think the wine really soaked into the raisins.

Drain the raisins and set aside. KEEP the liquid. Put liquid back in the saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to about 1/3 cup, or until it looks like light syrup and is a deep golden color. This should take somewhere around 20 minutes (give or take 10 minutes). Watch carefully so the syrup doesn't burn. If it starts to foam, remove from heat immediately. The syrup will continue to thicken as it cools. Let it cool completely.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice the French baguette into 1/4 inches pieces. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown or just crispy. I poured a little oil over them, but I don't think you need it.

Heat the Brie at about 300 for 10 minutes. I am guessing here because I did 325 for 15 minutes and it was tooo much. So keep an eye on it. You want it slightly melted, but to still hold it's form. Then just pour the syrup & raisins on top and serve.

(Click here for printable recipe)