<p>White Stilton—OH,Yes!</p>
<p>I seldom shop at Whole Foods. It’s simply too expensive. BUT when I want a nice, different kind of cheese, that is where I go.</p>
<p>While I love Trader Joe’s and buy everyday cheese there, if this crowd is sophisticated as the OP mentioned, I wouldn’t get cheese for an event there. They have one good Brie but the general quality and the way the cut the cheese does not make for a high end cheese platter. During the holidays I asked if they could sell me the whole wheel of their good Brie and they explained that everything came in pre cut which is why it’s hard to find cheese at the correct ripeness there.</p>
<p>I admit to being spoiled by great cheese. We have a local artisan cheese shop where you can taste any number of cheeses (and they have a couple of hundred). When you walk in, they’ll suggest cheeses or you can, and it’s like a wine tasting from mild to strong and “stinky.” If they do a platter, they’ll have a soft cheese, a blue, an aged cheese (Hooks 12 y.o. cheddar doesn’t resemble grocery store cheddar) and maybe a Parmesean.</p>
<p>Yum…I’ll have to bust the budget and swing by there this weekend!</p>
<p>I don’t think much of Trader Joe’s cheeses. Where I live, Formaggio is the best, followed by Whole Foods and a few specialty chops in Cambridge/Boston.</p>
<p>My inner 12 year old is ■■■■■■■■■■ at how Trader Joe’s cuts the cheese. </p>
<p>My outer 40-something is now giving my inner 12 year old the evil parent glare, and is apologizing to the other adults for the 12 year old’s lack of maturity.</p>
<p>This is going to sound really dumb, but I can remember my mom serving a big slice of brie with something–maybe a fruit sauce??—on top of it. She laughed that her guests thought it was more impressive than the labor-intensive main course. The catch: I can’t remember the specifics! (I just hate perimenopause~) Any bells ringing out there?? </p>
<p>I really miss my mom on mornings like this one…</p>
<p>I am pretty sure that what you are talking about is baked Brie. </p>
<p>You can buy puffed pastry sheets in the frozen food section of gourmet grocery stores. You also buy an appropriate sized wheel of Brie and a jar of high quality fruit marmalade (I use raspberry). </p>
<p>Roll out the puff pastry sheet, place the Brie with the raspberry on top and close the pastry with an egg wash. Bake until the pastry is golden brown.</p>
<p>It is magnificent looking and tastes great.</p>
<p>Accompany it with an assortment of high quality crackers.</p>
<p>PS – in a former life I owned a catering service. You can make puffed pastry from scratch, but the frozen sheets work just as well and absolve you of hours involved in a non-professional making the pastry.</p>
<p>And in a real pinch when you have unexpected guests you can use Pillsury crescent rolls instead of puff pastry. I have used apricot and/or peach preserves with brie, also.</p>
<p>Just remembered an old recipe that had brie, brown sugar and figs. Yummy!</p>