Brie Appetizers with Bacon-Plum Jam -- When the Preserving Season Teaches You to Sit Still

Tom Whelan's book arrives on August 15th. The library event is the 20th. He called this week to say he'd been practicing reading aloud, which I found touching in a way I didn't tell him — the idea of a man who has been doing skilled physical work for fifty years practicing reading his own sentences out loud in his living room in Livingston, Montana. I told him the reading would be good. He said: I'm not sure why I said yes to it. I said he said yes because the book is real and deserves to be in a room with people. He accepted that.

Second haying is past the midpoint. Good hay, good weather, the barn filling. Dad has been useful on the baler in a different way this year — less hands-on operation, more oversight. He walks the field while I bale and tells me when I'm overlapping too much or the windrow density looks off. The knowledge is still there. The way it gets applied is changing.

Cole came in on Thursday with a problem I hadn't seen before: a draft horse with bilateral seedy toe, both front feet affected, a fungal condition that had gotten ahead of a previous farrier who hadn't caught it early. We spent the afternoon working through the assessment and he did most of the initial treatment under my supervision. Afterward he said: I wouldn't have known where to start six months ago. I said: You knew where to start today. He did.

Made peach preserves Sunday. The Colorado peaches are in at the grocery store in Livingston and I bought a case. Blanched and peeled, halved, macerated overnight with sugar and lemon, then cooked down and jarred. The color of the preserves is a particular amber-orange that is the exact color of August at the right moment of the evening. I have no improvement to offer on that.

The peach preserves are jarred and cooling on the counter, and I’ve been looking at them more than I need to — that amber-orange color does something to you if you let it. Making preserves is one of those tasks that asks you to slow down and trust the process, which is not unlike watching Cole find his footing or watching my dad walk the field instead of drive it. Since I had stone fruit on the brain and a case of Colorado peaches as proof, these brie appetizers with bacon-plum jam felt like the natural next move: same instinct as the preserves, same faith that fruit and heat and a little patience produce something worth the effort, just dressed up enough to share with people you’re glad to have around.

Brie Appetizers with Bacon-Plum Jam

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 45 minutes | Servings: 24 pieces

Ingredients

• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
• 6 oz Brie cheese, rind removed, cut into 24 small pieces
• 4 strips thick-cut bacon, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups fresh or canned plums, pitted and roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 egg, beaten (for egg wash)
• Fresh thyme leaves, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

1. Make the bacon-plum jam. In a small saucepan over medium heat, cook chopped bacon until crisp. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside, leaving about 1 tablespoon of drippings in the pan. Add the chopped plums, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, red pepper flakes, and black pepper to the drippings. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, for 15–18 minutes until the plums have broken down and the mixture has thickened to a loose jam consistency. Stir reserved bacon back in and remove from heat. Let cool slightly.
2. Prep the pastry. Preheat oven to 400°F. On a lightly floured surface, unfold the puff pastry sheet and roll it out gently to even the thickness. Cut into 24 equal squares, roughly 2 inches each. Press each square into the cups of a lightly greased mini muffin tin, letting the corners point upward.
3. Fill and brush. Place one small piece of Brie into each pastry cup. Top each with about 1 teaspoon of the bacon-plum jam. Brush the exposed pastry edges lightly with beaten egg.
4. Bake. Bake for 12–15 minutes, until the pastry is puffed and deep golden brown and the Brie is fully melted and bubbling at the edges.
5. Finish and serve. Remove from the oven and let rest in the tin for 5 minutes before transferring to a serving board. Garnish with fresh thyme leaves if desired. Serve warm.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 95 | Protein: 3g | Fat: 6g | Carbs: 8g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 115mg