Hot pepper cheese toast

I wanted toast but didn’t feel like butter and jam. I wanted something hot from the oven but was too lazy to bake muffins or scones. Too lazy even to make some pancakes. I thought I’d have a salad with croutons. But not just any croutons but something spicy and really bursting with flavor.

I reviewed the contents of the pantry and the fridge, started experimenting and… I had another accident in the kitchen. No, I didn’t burn it down. I accidentally discovered something delicious! Oh, and it’s another one of those no-sweat meals. All you need is a little bit of this and that, all of which are most probably in your pantry. Best thing? It’s low-fat, healthy — meatless, in fact — and filling enough for a regular meal.

When I went through the fridge, the first thing I saw was a bar of Hickory Farms hot pepper cheese from my sister-in-law. Now, you don’t have to use flavored cheese of you don’t want to or if it isn’t available. Sharp cheddar or edam (queso de bola) will be just as good. Just make sure it isn’t a bland cheese or a soft cheese. Think pesto without the nuts and using dried basil instead of fresh. No blender or food processor either. Just a chopping board and a mixing bowl.

To make these wonderful toast triangles, you will need:

3-4 slices of regular white loaf bread (whole wheat might even be better)
3-4 cloves of garlic, crushed and finely chopped
1 tbsp. of dried basil
about half a cup of extra virgin olive oil
3-4 tbsps. of grated (hot pepper) cheese

Cut off the edges of the bread then cut each into two triangles.

Mix together the rest of the ingredients and spread on each triangle.

Toast the bread triangles in a preheated 170^oC oven for 3 to 4 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned.

That’s it, really, except that something else happened while I was munching on my hot pepper cheese toast.

If you will look at the photo on page 1 of this entry, you can clearly count four bread triangles. That’s because I took photos before I started eating. You will also notice some lettuce leaves beside the bread. See, I was going to eat the bread with lettuce on the side. Prior to taking the photos, I had already drizzled the lettuce leaves very liberally with vinaigrette.

As I was eating the first piece of bread, I noticed how bland it was. I didn’t add any salt to the spread because the cheese was kinda salty. For some reason, the saltiness and much of the peppery hotness were lost after the bread came out of the oven.

As I continued to bite into the second half of the bread, I noticed that it had been soaked in the vinaigrette which had spread onto the middle of the plate. Oh, my! The part that had been soaked in vinaigrette was just awesome! I was so pleased that I wiped off my hand and took more photos thinking that, meanwhile, the rest of the bread would get soaked in the vinaigrette. However, there was not enough vinaigrette for the remaining three bread triangles.

What I did was to get a small bowl into which I poured about half a cup of vinaigrette. I tore the bread as I ate, dipping each piece in the vinaigrette. I tell you, it was wonderful!

Before I end this entry, let me also tell you that the basil-garlic-cheese-olive oil mixture was even better with pan de sal.

All typos have been duly edited.

[tags]bread, toast, vinaigrette[/tags]