This is a paid post that has been sponsored by Fresh Wines. They provided me with a lovely case of VQA wine to try and to use in the development of this recipe.
A couple of weeks ago a miracle happened. I was able to get eight moms together for a weeknight wine tasting session with relatively short notice. Honestly, it happened.
When the case of wine arrived from Fresh Wines, I knew that I wanted a bunch of people to get together at my house for a tasting. I’m hardly a social butterfly and I also have a good dose of social anxiety which makes organizing social gatherings a little stressful. I knew my sister-in-law would be on board because we both love our wine but I wasn’t sure if anyone else would be able to make it.
I’m still worrying that some of the people that came that night are annoyed with me because I messed up on the email I sent for the first round of invitations because I used a group email where some people had dropped off the trail because they weren’t able to go to the original event that I got the emails from. Sound confusing? Welcome to my mind. Thankfully one friend saved my tail from even more anxiety by asking if I would like her to text some of the other people to see if they could make it. This part of the story makes it seem even more implausible because three moms were able to come out when they were asked that day. You read that right. I’m pretty sure what happened is they texted their respective husbands and said, “I’m going out to drink wine with the girls from church at 7 tonight. Good luck and Godspeed with the kids.”
We had a great time and we had a very informal wine tasting of all the Fresh Wines. All the white wines leaned to the sweet side and we discussed how they would make great sangrias and wine slushies. Since we are fully in peach season, I think that the Crisp White would go well as a sangria with peaches and plums, loads of ice and a big glug of sparkling water.
I don’t do very much entertaining lately and I almost never have people over on a weeknight but it sure was nice to have a chance to get together with such a fun group.
To go with the Camembert, I bought several other types of cheese for a simple cheese board. I also picked up some nice prosciutto and salami to round out the simple appetizers I had on the table. I think the warm Camembert was the real star of the snack show that evening though.
I used the Crisp White in this baked Camembert. You may not initially think that a slightly sweeter wine would work in this but it went really well with with the herbs and melted cheese.
Our wine tasting evening went so well that I can’t wait to do it again.
What are your best tips for simple weeknight entertaining?
Camembert Baked with Herbs & White Wine
Ingredients
- 1 250 g package of Camembert such as Le Rustique*
- 1/4 cup white wine such as Fresh Wines Crisp White
- 1 tbsp mixed fresh herbs thyme, oregano, parsley, chives
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F
- Unwrap the Camembert and fit a piece of parchment paper into the the wooden box the Camembert came in. Press the unwrapped Camembert back into the box. Make sure the parchment has a couple of inches extra around the edges of the Camembert.
- Mix the wine and herbs together in a small bowl. If you don't have many different types of fresh herbs, try to find thyme and chives as they go really well.
- Poke the Camembert 8 or so times with the tip of a sharp knife.
- Carefully spoon the wine and herbs over the Camembert. Try not to let it all drip down the sides but don't fret if some does. It is best if it stays pooled on the top of the cheese so that it goes into the holes you poked in it as it bakes.
- Place the Camembert in the wooden box on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Bake for less time if the cheese was close to room temperature.
- Serve with plenty of crusty bread.
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