Baked Brie and Camembert, rescued from the ordinary, are even better with an herby garlicky mess slathered over them before hitting the oven. Camembert is especially party-sized, available at all price ranges (and the low-end stuff is just splendid here), and most wheels come in little wooden baskets you can warm the cheese in directly. It stays gooier longer than firmer cheeses and never looks split, and I’ve found you can even rewarm it later and it stays smooth. Just one more thing: eating this without drinking a glass of red wine would be like having a warm chocolate chip cookie without milk; I know you won’t let that happen to you.

　　

Ingredients

4 servings

　　1 [8-to-9-ounce (225-to-255-gram)] wheel Camembert

　　1 tablespoon (15 ml) olive oil

　　1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves

　　1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary leaves

　　1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

　　1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

　　1 large garlic clove, sliced very thin

　　Crackers, preferably long enough to dip with, for serving

　　

Heat:

Step 1

The oven to 350°F.

　　

Assemble:

Step 2

Most Camembert comes in a little wooden crate. If yours does, remove the crate lid and any packaging or wrappers around the cheese, and place it back inside the basket. Yes, it is safe to bake it right in there for the short time that this recipe calls for. If you're nervous about leakage, you can wrap the Camembert in foil or line the basket with parchment paper as a layer of protection. Place the cheese in the wooden crate on a baking tray.

　　

Step 3

With a thin sharp knife, make gridlike cuts in the cheese, 3 or 4 in each direction, about 1 inch apart and going about 1 inch deep into the cheese but without cutting through the bottom rind. Use your knife tip to "open" each cut and your fingers to press a little sliver of garlic into each cut. Combine the olive oil with the thyme, rosemary, salt, and pepper in a small dish. Spread thickly on top of the cheese.

　　

Bake:

Step 4

For 15 to 20 minutes, until the cheese is loose inside the rind. Serve immediately with crackers.

　　Excerpted from Smitten Kitchen Every Day: Triumphant and Unfussy New Favorites Copyright © 2017 by Deb Perelman. Published with permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.Buy the full book from Amazon.