Mixing breakfast food such as sausage and a cheese commonly consumed with fruit, such as brie or Camembert, is an adventure best attempted for brunch, that leisurely meal that begins some time after breakfast and lasts past lunch time. Experiment with this uncommon pair to create tidbit bakes or pastries for your own weekend brunch.
Cheese
Brie is French semi-soft cheese named after the region near Paris where it was first produced. The same recipe, produced a bit further north in Normandy and aged differently to give it a stronger taste, was dubbed Camembert. So if you can't find a nice, thick, creamy slice of brie, try Camembert. Both cheeses must be pasteurized to be sold in the U.S. Both are lower in calories and fat than other cheeses found in many breakfast baked dishes. Grocery store brie, which is seldom authentic French brie, is acceptable for baking.
Sausage
Sausage comes in so many varieties that it's wiser to match the sausage to the cheese than the cheese to the sausage. Use turkey sausage, low in calories and fat, for a relatively bland addition. Stay away from spicy Italian or chorizo sausages because they will render your brie unrecognizable. Pork sausages comes plain or smoked; apple or cherry smoked sausage could make a tasty addition to a brie bake. Save the maple-flavored sausage, though, for a plate of scrambled eggs. Beef sausages from a good butcher may be subtly smoked, but most will either be too plain to perk up the brie or too strong and overpowering.
Tarts
Good brie is expensive and its taste is rich-- two factors that argue for its sparing use. Invest in a set of individual tart pans for your bakes or use large muffin tins instead of a pie pan. Line tart tins with a folded sheet of phyllo or a thin sheet of puff pastry, sprinkle a bit of cooked and crumbled sausage on it, cover it with a cold square of brie and bake at 375 degrees F until the cheese melts and edges brown, or follow the pastry package directions. Alternatively, line the bottom of the tin with a single layer of finely processed breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese for a base that simulates brie rind. Decorate the finished tarts with a thin slice of ripe kiwi fruit or sliver of apple.
En Croute
Make one of several brunch variations on the classic brie-in-a-crust presentation. For one, slice a wheel of brie in half horizontally. Scatter sautéed sweet onions, mushrooms and sausage on the bottom half of the brie wheel, and top them with the remaining brie. Wrap the whole cheese in puff pastry. Or lay sausage links on top of a brie wheel in a spoke pattern before wrapping. You can also use crescent rolls for a simpler pastry case; top a square made of two crescents with thin slices of apple, a bit of sausage and a piece of skinned brie. Fold the top over to make a triangle and pinch the sides together, leaving the outer edge unsealed for popover-like pastries. Follow pastry package directions for baking.
References
- Food Timeline: Brunch
- U.S. Department of Agriculture: National Nutrient Database: Cheese, Sausage
- The Nibble: Brie & Camembert: The Classic Cheeses Never Go Out Of Style
- Cooks.com: Sausage and Cheese Brunch Tarts
- All Recipes: Baked Brie in Puff Pastry
- Bed and Breakfast Online: Susan's Crustless Breakfast Bake
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