The Simple Things --- Blue Cheese and Honey toasts

I won't lie, I do love me some swanky food from time to time. Bring on the foie gras bon bons and truffled 63 degree eggs.... or something. At the end of the day though, it's the simple things that make me swoon - homemade pasta, fresh bread lovingly prepared by hand, and creamy, stinky cheese. Simple things that are elevated to an art form by skilled hands.

This weekend at the farmer's market I picked up some of those things. A jar of raw honey with a piece of comb from Swift Farms and a loaf of Rustic Roasted Onion bread from Farm to Hearth, amongst other things. Have you had a piece of honeycomb before? You should. You really, really should.

As for the bread - typically when I come home with a loaf of Farm to Hearth bread I need to restrain myself from sitting down and eating the whole thing with a stick of butter. It's so damn good. The onions in this loaf only escalated my addiction. I really wanted to eat my honey too though! So I threw together a little snack.

Usually I buy some cheese from Cato Corner at the market, but I already had too much cheese at home (it feels sacrilegious to say that...) I did have a little chunk of spicy Roquefort that I thought would pair well with the sweet, floral honey. These little toasts are the perfect bite of crunchy, sweet, spicy and salty. And if you're usually timid about bold blues, this is the time to take a risk! The honey will balance out some of the punch in the blue. They're great for a snack or for a party appetizer.  I used hazelnuts because I had them on hand, but pecans or walnuts would work just as well!

 

Blue Cheese and Honey Toasts

10-12 small slices of good bread or baguette

olive oil

~ 4 oz spicy blue cheese, like Roquefort, at room temperature

honey

chopped nuts

Lightly brush the slices of bread with olive oil and toast either in the oven, in a pan or on the grill until slightly toasty and crunchy. Spread or crumble a bit of the blue cheese on each toast. Drizzle with honey (don't drown it!) and sprinkle with the chopped nuts. Enjoy!