Thanksgiving Appetizers - Goat Cheese Crisps

Thanksgiving is this week -- the quintessential celebration of food in America (oh, and something about Pilgrims and Native American people sharing...).  In spirit of the holiday, I thought I would share one of my favorite recipes for a Thanksgiving appetizer which is super simple and easy.  And it highlights some delicious fall flavors - goat cheese and rosemary.  The recipe is intentionally very basic so you can focus your attention on the main dish (TURKEY!) and it's not too heavy to spoil your appetite.


Ingredients

• 1 loaf of french bread
• 8 oz of goat cheese
• 3-5 sprigs of fresh rosemary
• 1/4 cup of walnut pieces
• honey

so simple, you only need these 4 ingredients + bread!

Preparation

1.   Slice the french bread into thin, diagonal slices (they should be about 1 inch thick)

cut these thin so they toast quicker

2.   Remove the goat cheese from the refridgerator and let it soften so it's easier to spread.  Remove the rosemary leaves from the stem and chop into little pieces.

Lightly chop, do not mutilate your herbs or they will leave their flavor on your cutting board

3.  Spread the goat cheese on the bread and place on a baking sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes until the cheese begins to melt and the bread is slightly golden brown.

4.  Remove the toasts from the oven.  Place on a serving dish.  Sprinkle walnuts on the cheese toasts (sometimes you need to press them on there).  Then sprinkle the rosemary on the cheese toasts.  Then lightly drizzle honey over top the toasts.  You can opt out of the walnuts if you have folks with nut allergies (see above, I made some with and without walnuts).

5.  Viola!  Now you can focus on carving that turkey!