Cheese bread

One of the appetizers, I made over the Christmas holiday  I saw come through as a video  on Facebook using Raclette and Camembert cheese and a loaf of bread. 

Cut out three squares in the bread and then cut the pieces of scooped out bread into strips.

Mix olive oil, minced garlic and chopped parsley in a small bowl

Toss bread strips in this oil mixture

Each pocket has a different garnish.

1 Onion chopped and caramelized 

Fresh rosemary chopped

4 to 6 strips Bacon, cook and crumb when cool

Sautéed mushroom would have been nice too

Slice the cheese in half and use one of the above garnishes

Brush olive oil on the loaf, wrap in tin foil and bake at 325 for about 20 to 30 minutes. 

Surround the loaf with pickles and vegetable along with the bread strips to scoop out the cheese.

Would I do this again? Probably not as it did take a lot of cheese and not as impressive looking, although it did disappear quickly. The thickness of this bread was too thick, so thinner bread would probably work better.  Using other cheeses, like cheddar and mozzarella would make this appetizer less costly.   

Camembert, Figs and Candied Walnuts open faced Brioche sandwiches

This was my daughter's favourite that I served for her High Tea bridal shower.

Maybe it was the camembert slices. It could have been the candied pecans that I baked using molasses and some chill flakes.  Or it could have been the Brioche, my Babka bread that I make for Easter that reminded her of her grandmother and the lovely breads she baked!   

One could use the same recipe that I used for the watermelon bread or the pinwheels. Here is my aunt's recipe that uses 10 cups of flour, one could reduce the recipe or make all of it and freeze half the dough for other uses later.

Slices of Bread were toasted and assembled with a slice of camembert cheese, dried figs topped with candied pecans.  

I had planned to pick up fresh figs at a new Italian market that opened up very close to my neighborhood, but I think the dried figs worked well with the cheese and the candies pecans.