Chocolate and Brie Grilled Sandwiches

Oh yes, this happened. This is one of those recipes that you know has to be good, but then is it oh, so much better. I will warn you though, it’s a lot to handle. I made these for the Bubbly and Chocolate Ladies’ night my roommate hosted for Valentine’s Day. You didn’t have really have to be a lady, but you did have to wear stilettos.

In addition to my sandwiches, our meal consisted of mini-brie en croutes with blackberry jam, Bailey’s brownies, chocolate covered strawberries and sparkling Sangria. Oh, what a night.

Clearly we had a very balanced meal

Ingredients (makes 4 sandwiches)

8 slices of bread (I used pan rustico but I also think sourdough would be amazing. I also just think sourdough is amazing in general, however)

1 triangle of Brie cheese

Semi-sweet chocolate chips

Melted butter

Directions

Cut brie into slices (keep the brie in the refrigerator until ready to cut so its easier to handle). Places brie onto 8 slides of the bread.

Sprinkle chocolate chips onto the other 4 slides of bread.

Bring together the slices of bread and brush 1 side with melted butter.

Heat a heavy bottom skillet on med-high the place sandwiches butter side down and grill until golden brown (2-3 minutes). Brush other side with butter, flip, and grill for 2-3 more minutes.

Remove from heat and let rest for a few minutes. Take a deep inhale, prepare yourself and then enjoy!

Wine and Caviar Night

Right before Thanksgiving, my mom sent me up some fancy table setting stuff into which she included this adorable caviar dish! Ever since I’ve been dying to use it, but as you could imagine caviar is not a regular menu item for graduate students. Anyway, yesterday I was able to get a few friends together for a little get-together. 2 of them ended up bailing last minute, but that just meant more wine and food for us!

My friend (and climbing buddy) made blinis and brought caviar and creme fraiche.  (See the cute little caviar dish?!)

My roommate brought some fresh fruit, Havarti and a Monterrey/Colby cheese blend. And we made crostinis by putting some presto and fresh rosemary on Artisan bread and toasting at 375 until golden brown (~15 minutes).

 

And of course, no fancy food party is complete without Brie! I peeled and cut a pear into bite-sized chunks and put them in a baking dish with a handful of pecans. I then sprinkled some brown sugar (~3 T), cinnamon (~1 t) and honey (~1 T) on them and baked at 375 for 20 minutes. When they were done I cut off the top rind of the Brie, poured the pear/pecan mixture over the cheese and put it back in the oven for 5 minutes to get melty and delicious!

I served this with Trader Joe’s Chianti Wine Artisan  Salami and Italian Rosemary Crackers. Yummy! And of course, we drank our share of both red and white sparkling wines. Not only was all of this food amazing, it was super easy for stress-free entertaining.

After we ate, we really upped the classiness by watching Forgetting Sarah Marshall…Hey, we’re still grad students after all.