Mushrooms on Toast with Herbed Goat Cheese text

For the final Chef's Notes post of the year, I wanted to share something very special with you. If you are looking for the perfect hors d'oeuvre for your Christmas party, New Year's Eve, or just for a romantic evening, look no further. Mushrooms on toast with herbed cream cheese is exactly the thing for you, as long as you like mushrooms. Let's take a look at what may just become your new favourite snack and your go-to party treat. Let's get to it.

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The Toast

You obviously can't have mushrooms on toast without toast. So, first up, we need to toast some bread. The bread I use for this is Promise Gluten-Free Sourdough. You can use any bread you want but don't cheap out. Please, don't use regular white bread for this. It deserves better. Buy a loaf of sourdough or a baguette or something like that. Cut the bread into quarter-inch (1 cm) thick pieces. I like to cut the crusts off, though you don't have to. Put the bread on a sheet pan, drizzle or brush it with olive oil, season it with salt and pepper, then bake at 400°f for about twelve minutes or until the bread is golden brown and crisp. The bread should be crunchy on the outside but soft in the middle. In total, you want eight little triangles for this recipe.

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Mixing The Cream Cheese

The second part of this dish is cream cheese. Usually, when I do this, I use ricotta rather than cream cheese, but ricotta can be expensive, and cream cheese makes a good, cheaper option. However, if you want to use ricotta, the recipe is the same. You can also skip this step altogether if you'd like and buy some herb and garlic cream cheese, though I find it tastes better if you mix it yourself.

To make the herbed cream cheese, allow half a cup of cream cheese to soften at room temperature for about thirty minutes. Add a half teaspoon of each fresh chopped rosemary and thyme and a quarter teaspoon chopped garlic to the softened cream cheese. Mix well and set aside.

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Cooking The Mushrooms

The final component of Mushrooms on toast with herbed cream cheese is, of course, mushrooms. The mushrooms that I used are a small portabello, three large creminis and a few oyster mushrooms. In total, it worked out to be a half cup of each mushroom after they were cut. Thinly slice the creminis, dice the portobellos, and pull the oyster mushrooms apart. The idea is to cut the mushrooms into different shapes to create a variety of textures. You can use whatever types of mushrooms you'd like, but you should try and cut them all differently.

Cooked along with the mushrooms are a quarter cup of minced onion, one teaspoon of minced garlic, and half a teaspoon each of chopped thyme and rosemary.

Cooking the mushrooms

To cook the mushrooms, heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add in one tablespoon each of butter and olive oil. Once the butter melts and starts to foam, add in the onion and cook for three minutes or until the onions start to soften. Add in the mushrooms and garlic—Cook for four to five minutes or until the mushrooms start to brown. Add in the herbs, and season with salt and pepper. The mushrooms are done when they are tender and lightly browned. There should be no excess moisture in the bottom of the pan. If there is, it means that your pan wasn't hot enough, or you added too many mushrooms for the pan's size. If you want to double this recipe, either use a larger pan or cook the mushrooms in batches.

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Mushrooms on Toast With Herbed Cream Cheese

To assemble the hors d'oeuvre, spread a layer of the cream cheese on a piece of toast, top with a few spoonfuls of the mushrooms. Put the mushrooms on toast on a platter, drizzle lightly with olive oil, and sprinkle some thyme leaves around. Serve warm.

You can also make this with two full pieces of bread and serve it as it is for breakfast or top it with a fried egg. It is also great for lunch served with a salad.

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Conclusion

Lik the pear and blue cheese tarts from a few weeks ago, Mushrooms on Toast with Herbed Cream cheese are among my most popular hors d'oeuvres. Now, you can make it at home whenever you want. Enjoy!!

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