Hey guys, help me out with this gorgonzola

Sorry for posting this again, but i think i chose a bad title - got only two replies and they didn;t address the question. But i need help from some of you experienced people - especially because tomorrow i have to do the shopping. Come on, I help you all the time!

I'm having a big christmas party on wednesday.

Despite my great efforts and interesting and complex recipes, the things people like most are the roast turkey (yeah, weird isn;t it - they think the easiest thing is the most amazing - nobody does a whole turkey here) and the baked bries and camemberts in puff pastry. (I don;t make the puff pastry myself in this case since i'm doing a lot of cooking - i buy it frozen).

I've come up with a couple of interesting variations to be spread on top before wrapping:
caramelized onion and dried cranberry;
Caramelized onion and apples.

However I wanted to make more of these since they go right away and are so easy to make. I'm hoping for some feedback

Question 1 - honey-caramelized nuts?
There's a trend now here to serve honey with cheeses, especially with sharp or smelly cheese like gorgonzola.

I wondered if I could caramelize some walnuts and, since someone is allergic to nuts, some pistachios, in greek honey and spread on top.

I was thinking like they make nut brittle, but with honey boiled down to a hard crack stage, then toss the nuts in it. It would then be more nuts (or pistachios) than honey
Can you do that with honey? does this make any sense? Should I just put nuts and honey on top? I thought that boiling it down and just coating the nuts or pistachios would mean a little less sweet, and that slightly caramelized flavor that is so nice with nuts.

question 2 - can you do gorgonzola?
Once i tried to make this with a piece of brie, and the brie melted all over the place and oozed completely out of the pastry. I realized the skin of the brie kept it in place so i make only whole bries and camemberts this way.

But maybe there is a way? When i did it i wrapped the brie piece in puff pastry and sealed with egg, but then turned it over and put the seams down so the top would be smooth and i could paste little leaves on it. Gorgonzola comes in chunks and I thought gorgonzola would be wonderful in this, but then will it melt out since it has no skin?

What if i made a little basket of puff pastry, laying the gorgonzola and honey or whatever on top of the sheet of pastry with plenty to spare, then pulled up the sides and gathered them on top so they sort of stick up, but squeezed together? I know you can use phillo pastry, but that is next to impossible to find here. I would imagine if it melted it would remain in this little basket. Then I'd serve warm not hot.
The idea of warm gorgonzola with nuts and honey is very appealing and is making my mouth water even as I write and it's not even 9AM!

Help me figure this out!
thanks, as always,
Siduri

 

Thanks DC. But do you think you can make praline from honey?
will it be a waste of honey or can it be good?
and will the crepe make a kind of too soft coating around the cheese?

 

Aha, i knew i was making a mistake mentioning the brie. Over there it is ho hum, but believe me they think it's the end of the world (to translate an italian expression a bit too literally)
that's why i changed it and mentioned gorgonzola in the title.
anyway, thanks Suzanne, good ideas.

 

Hi Gonefishin. No cheese platter, too expensive, because you really need good cheese if you're going to do that. Anyway, italians have plenty of good cheese wherever they turn. They don;t need me to give it to them. And there is no "simple" in this party, the whole thing is sort of a babette's feast. But anyway, to answer your question, I wanted to bake the cheese in a casing of puff pastry, with something on top. I can get pretty decent bries and camemberts here at this french supermarket chain, and of course gorgonzola is everywhere. Not too expensive.
What i can't get with money, I make up with art.
hey, that could be a motto!
buone feste to you too.

jkgourmet, I don;t know what cambesola is. Gorgonzola is a town, and the cheese is named after it. Like parmigiano, from parma, it's got a doc kind of seal on it. Or is cambesola maybe a half gorgonzola half camembert? Happy holidays to you too.

 

Sounds interesting. Not likely to be sold here though.

 

roasted fresh figs? not available in this season, but that sounds great.
I wanted to bake the cheese in a crust, though, and am afraid it will become all runny and seep out. That's the question.

 

tried carmelizing honey, and the smell was foul, but the taste is not (strange).
Then tossed it with pistachios, put a little on top of a piece of gorgonzola, wrapped in parchment and heated in the microwave. I heated it too much and it pretty much melted away, but the taste was good - the honey was bitter-sweet, interesting with the cheese and pistachio.
will let you know after wednesday how it came out - I'm sure the hungry hordes will eat anything, but I have to like it.

 

thanks hefed
that's what i wanted to know, that the gorgonzola will still be recognizable after cooking and not turn into stinky soup.
thanks

 

Now that's the kind of advice I was looking for. thanks ed