Crab, Chives and Brie Bunches

My family is Greek so, of course, I am fairly familiar with cooking with filo dough. It can be tricky, and sometimes frustrating, but once you bite into a flakey, buttery filo crust you won't regret one bit of it! This recipe makes for an awesome appetizer, and it's really pretty simple once you get the hang of it. For those of you who're unfamiliar with filo, it's a paper-thin dough that you layer and brush with melted butter to keep moist. You can use it to make all sorts of things, both sweet and savory. My mom made this once before and it was fantastic. Hope you all like it!

Ingredients:

16 ounces Filo Dough, thawed

(3) 6 Ounces Cans Crab Meat, drained (I got mine at Trader Joe's)

3/4 Cup Butter, melted

2/3 Cup Fresh Chives, chopped

3/4 lb Brie Cheese

1 Egg, beaten

1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder

1/4 Teaspoon Pepper

1/4 Teaspoon Salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the crab meat, chives, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Cover and place in the refrigerator. Take the brie and cut off the white crusts. Discard the crusts and set the brie aside.

On a flat and clean surface, open one of the bags of filo dough and lay it out flat. Cut the pile of filo dough in half, width-wise, like in the picture. You should have two piles of filo dough squares. Take one of the squares of filo and lay it out flat onto the counter.

Using a pastry brush, brush it with some of the melted butter. Now take another square and, if they are not perfect squares and one side is slightly longer than the other, turn it so that they alternate. Brush this square with butter after you lay it down as well. Repeat this process until you have laid down and buttered 6 filo in a pile.

Take the crab mixture out of the refrigerator and uncover. Take 1 tablespoon of brie and set it in the middle of the filo.  Take 2 tablespoons of the crab mixture and put it on top of the brie, (it's ok if it spills off the side of the brie and onto the filo dough). Grab each corner of the square and gently bring them together at the top, pinching hard just above the pile of brie and crab.

Brush the outside of the pouch lightly with butter and place on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat this process until you are out of filo dough or filling. Make sure to work as quickly as possible, filo dough dries out after about an hour's exposure to air, which means it becomes very brittle and will basically fall apart in your hand. Brush the outside of the pouches with the egg and bake for 30 - 40 minutes or until the filo has turned golden brown.