Miche Toast with Opal Apple Ribbons, Hazelnuts, and Lavender Honey

The thing about toast is that it’s so ridiculously easy. Easy to make, easy to fix, easy to devour, and easy to brag about. The problem, though, with easy things, is that they complicate things. When we simplify, then we start to consider all the possibilities. And that, my friends, is how we ended up with the longest name for a toast recipe I have ever encountered.

To start, we toast slices of Miche, a French sourdough that combines white and rye flours to create a tart, flavorful loaf. Please bear in mind that I Rachael Ray-ed the entire recipe from that point afterward. Feel free to add more or less of the goat cheese. Overload your bread with delicate mounds of sweet opal apples. Toast a few extra hazelnuts. Allow the lavender honey to pool everywhere. Rules are for followers, and at this point in a frigid winter, I think we all would like to break things. Toasts are a reminder to let go a little bit, to care a little bit less, and to live a little bit more. What a simple way to add some complication to our lives, and how wonderful, that it could be so tantalizing!

If you are anything like me, then you might be on the other side of a wonderful mid-winter vacation, wondering why you live where you do when there are places in the world that do not have weather that hurts. But then you might bundle up in your highest-quality sweater (which you bought in the largest size possible in the Men’s Section for cuddliness maximization), roll up the blinds to let the sun glinting off the snow reflect into your room, make a cup of frothy matcha, and slather a piece of toast with some fancy ingredients. This is coming from someone who has done all of that–it really, truly helps. Cheers to warmth and coziness.

One Year: Cherry Almond Granola.
Two Years: Brown Butter, Goat Cheese, and Chive Drop Biscuits.

Miche Toast with Opal Apple Ribbons, Hazelnuts, and Lavender Honey
Serves 2
2 slices of Miche bread, lightly toasted
1 medium Opal Apple, peeled
4 tbsp goat cheese
2 tbsp Hazelnuts, toasted
Lavender Honey, for drizzling
Maldon salt, for sprinkling

Use a vegetable peeler to gently peel ribbons of Opal Apple (it helps to gently turn the apple as you peel). Set aside ribbons. Spread each piece of toast with 2 tbsp of goat cheese. Top with opal apple and hazelnuts. Drizzle with lavender honey and sprinkle with Maldon salt.