I was recently contacted by Ile de France to see if I would be interested in testing out some of their cheeses. More specifically, their brie and goat cheese. I’ve haven’t used either cheese much, so I decided to accept their offer.

We tested out the brie first. Ile de France sent me their brie and two competitor brie cheeses.

I decided to make some baked brie bites for our tailgate last weekend. Everyone had the same reaction. They all said the competitor brie was good, but the Ile de France brie was really, really good! There was a big difference in how each brand tasted. The Ile de France cheese had a much richer and fuller flavor than the other brands of brie. Chicken Legs especially loved this. This was his first time eating brie cheese, and he loved it! We will be making these brie bites a lot!

Baked Brie Bites

mini phyllo tarts

Ile de France brie, cubed

brown sugar

chopped pecans

honey

Preheat oven to 350.

Place a cube of brie in each phyllo tart. Sprinkle each tart with approximately 1/2 tsp brown sugar. Top with approximately 1/2 tsp chopped pecans and a dollop of honey. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until brie is melted. (use more or less of each ingredient according to your preference)

Next up was the goat cheese. I’m not sure that I have ever had goat cheese, so this was a real adventure for me. We sampled three types of goat cheese.

I sliced each brand of goat cheese and baked it in my favorite marinara sauce. This was really good. It reminded me of another one of our favorite appetizers – Baked Feta.

We liked all the goat cheese, but the Ile de France was clearly our favorite. I was really surprised that each cheese tasted so different. The Ile de France tasted really fresh and had a much richer flavor than the other goat cheeses.

Goat Cheese Marinara

Ile de France goat cheese

marinara sauce

fresh garlic

basil

french bread

Preheat oven to 350.

Pour marinara into baking dish. Slice goat cheese and place on top of marinara. Sprinkle with basil and garlic. Bake 15-20 minutes, until bubbly. Serve with toasted french bread.