craving query

Ever wonder how they made that? Here’s a game I often play with myself. Break down the essential components of a memorable bite. Piece. By. Piece. Recently I was invited to a progressive dinner party where we were transported from house to house in the back of an enormous pickup truck. The dinner (and drinks) were off the chart. I can’t recall when I had more fun. The entire event was catered and each destination greeted us with something sumptuous.

One standout was an incredible mushroom toast with bubbly cheese. I woke the next morning with a slight case of the thirsties and a hankering for those delectable little bites. I spent the better part of my Sunday dissecting those little toasts in my mind. I’m sure they were a complete bear to make. And because in my foreseeable future I wasn’t going to have a magic person in my kitchen to create them, another to pass them and another to hand me a cocktail to wash them down I needed to figure out how to make this bite without any hoopla or hoops to jump through.

That afternoon I headed out to Dorothy Lane Market. That store offers up the best little samples. In their chilly AC I pushed my cart lackadaisically up one aisle and down the other nibbling at each turn. At my second swipe by the dip station a light bulb went off in my head. In front of me was a pyramid of packaged bruschetta toasts and to the immediate right the most delicious jarlsberg cheese dip. Voila my toasts and cheese! I made my way over to the produce section, stopping only for a little glass of freshly squeezed orange juice, to pick up some shitake mushrooms and a shallot. I’ll sauté up my own duxelles to complete this knockout knockoff- shitake cheese toasts.

Sauté sliced shitake mushrooms and finely chopped shallot.

Stir in chopped fresh thyme and a splash of sherry.

Sauté until golden brown.

Use bruschette toasts right out of the bag.

Top each toast with a ½ tsp of mushroom mixture.

Find Jarlsberg dip in the prepared food section of your grocery store.

Spread a little Jarlsberg dip on top.

Broil toast until bubbly and just beginning to brown and serve them up!