Baked Brie with Caramelized Onions & Pear-Apple Champagne Cocktail – Great for this weekend or Thanksgiving!

Halloween’s over. Next up Thanksgiving. With this yummy food centric holiday approaching at the end of this month, I thought throughout November, I would share you with a cocktail and appetizer that you could use for the coming weekend or on Thanksgiving. One of my favorite appetizers is Bon Appetit’s Baked Brie with Caramelized Onions. It’s great for a holiday too because you can make the topping the day before and just bake it before serving and it is an easy dish to make for a crowd. Gooey warm brie with caramelized onions – this one is always a hit!

For the cocktail, I wanted to share my recipe for a Pear-Apple Champagne Cocktail. The flavor of pears and apples are so reminiscent of fall and for a holiday the champagne makes it festive.

Recipe: Baked Brie with Caramelized Onions
Adapted from Bon Appetite

• 2 tbs butter
• 4 large onions, sliced
• 1 tbs fresh thyme leaves -minced
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 4 oz. dry white wine
• 1 tsp sugar
• Kosher Salt & Freshly Ground Black Pepper to taste.
• (1) 8″ – 10″ in diameter wheel of Brie
• 2 French bread baguettes, sliced

1. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions. It will seem like too many onions but they will really cook down. Saute the onions about 6 minutes until they begin to get soft.
2. Add minced thyme and lower the heat to medium. Cook about 20-25 minutes, until the onions are golden brown in color. Stir often.
3. Add the garlic and and cook an additional 2 minutes.
4. Stir in 2 ounces of the wine cooking for 2 more minutes until almost all of the liquid has evaporated. about 2 minutes. Sprinkle the sugar on top of the onions and cook 10 minutes until the onion mixture is soft and brown. Pour in the remaining 2 ounces of wine and mix until it just evaporates this take around 2 minutes.
5. Mix in salt and pepper and let mixture cool. Once the mixture has cooled, you can place it in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to two days.
6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
7. Unwrap the Brie and carefully slice off a thin layer on top. You want to remove the white rind from the top of the Brie only and leave the rind on the sides and the bottom intact. Place in a pie dish about no more than 1″ larger than Brie wheel, rind side down. Place the onion mixture evenly on top of the Brie. Bake until cheese just melts, about 30 minutes. Serve with baguette slices.

Recipe: Pear-Apple Champagne Cocktail

• 1 oz. Pear Vodka like Grey Goose Poire
• 1.5 oz. Apple Cider
• 4 oz. Champagne
• 1 Small Pear (like Seckel Pears), thinly sliced

1. In a shaker filled with ice, mix Pear Vodka and Apple Cider. Pour into the bottom of a Champagne flute.
2. Top with Champagne.
3. Garnish with a pear slice.

For more recipes, cooking and entertaining tips from Zareen, check out her blog Cooking With Z.