Deep Fried Brie with Raspberry Sauce

 DEEP FRIED BRIE WITH RASPBERRY SAUCE

This is something that I love to make and haven't had it for a while.  So as my son, Josh and Yona were coming over for a last supper before our 2nd 'lockdown' thought I would do this as a starter as its also one of their favourites. I doubled this recipe and still had some left, so some went into the freezer for a later date.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

    100g of frozen raspberries

    2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar

    1 tablespoon of honey

    Salt and pepper

    200g of brie - I had a round of brie

    50g of plain flour

    1 teaspoon of dried thyme

    1 egg, beaten

    70g of breadcrumbs

    Vegetable or sunflower oil for frying

Method:

Put the brie into the freezer for 30 minutes to allow it to chill and firm up a little.

Meanwhile, make the raspberry sauce. Put the frozen raspberries into a small pan with the balsamic vinegar and honey and heat gently for about five minutes, stirring occasionally, until the raspberries have broken down. I usually serve the brie with either a cranberry sauce or fig jam, but as Lidl had some fresh raspberries I decided to try a different sauce, which worked really well.

Add some salt and pepper and taste to see if it needs more honey for sweetness. Set aside to cool.

Heat 4-5cm of the oil in a high sided pan over a high heat. Take all of the necessary precautions when it comes to frying in hot oil.

Take the cheese out of the freezer and cut into wedges. Use three separate bowls and put the flour, thyme and a little salt and pepper mixed together in one, the beaten egg in the next and the breadcrumbs into the last bowl.

Roll each wedge of cheese in the seasoned flour and then coat in the beaten egg before rolling it in the breadcrumbs. Make sure they are fully covered in breadcrumbs. If you like, you can dip in egg and then in breadcrumbs again to double coat them which I did. You can put them in the fridge until you need them at this point if you like.

Test the oil to see if it is hot enough by dropping some breadcrumbs in and they should sizzle immediately, or using a thermometer heat it to 180c. You want the oil quite hot because you want the breadcrumbs to turn golden brown and crispy quickly but you don’t want them in the oil long enough for the cheese to melt completely.

Fry the wedges in batches so that the oil does not cool, until they are golden brown. Remove from the oil and drain on kitchen paper. Serve immediately with some of the raspberry sauce on the side and some rocket leaves if you like.