Cheese Toasts With Mushrooms, Miso & Honey
When I crave sustenance that is speedy and delicious, these toasts come to the rescue. The washed-rind, creamy cheese is a lush foil to meaty mushrooms. I dreamed up the sweet-savory dressing thinking of a couple things: cheese and honey as a pairing, and how miso echoes the mushrooms’ umami. Who doesn’t love a good toast? It’s the perfect vehicle for all of it. I’ve loved triple-cream cheeses for a long time, and this is definitely one of my new favorite ways to use it.
Cheese Toasts With Mushrooms, Miso & Honey
HONEY-MISO DRESSING
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 tsp white or chickpea miso
1 tsp honey
½ tsp soy sauce
MUSHROOM TOASTS
4 oz hen of the woods mushrooms, sliced into steaks, or oyster mushrooms, base trimmed, mushrooms pulled from their cluster
Extra-virgin olive oil, for sautéing
2 slices sourdough bread
¼ wheel (2 ounces) St. Stephen cheese (or another triple-cream cheese), at room temperature
2 tbsp chopped curly parsley
DIRECTIONS
Use a small fork to whisk together the sauce ingredients until emulsified. You can thin it further by adding a little more olive oil, as desired. (The sauce can be made 2 days in advance and kept sealed, at room temperature.)
Warm a cast-iron pan over medium-high heat, then drizzle with oil. Once hot, add the mushrooms and sauté, undisturbed, for 3 to 5 minutes, until browned. If the feels dry at any point, drizzle additional oil as needed. Turn the mushrooms, then sauté for another 3 to 5 minutes, occasionally flattening the mushrooms to help them become crispy at their edges. Once they are cooked, transfer them to a plate.
In a toaster, pan, or under the broiler, toast the bread until golden. Let cool until barely warm, then slather toasts with the cheese. Stack the crispy mushrooms onto the cheese, then drizzle or paint with the miso sauce. Add freshly cracked pepper and scatter with the parsley.