Have you ever felt like a goat cheese appetizer but not on a salad or on toasts? This warm goat cheese appetizer has been one of my favorites, and makes such an elegant small dish with simple and down to earth flavors.

It’s one of those appetizers, that you make regularly because it’s so good and so quick to prepare, you can prepare the red pepper salsa in advance which can be appreciable when you have guests and many courses, then you don’t have to stay in the kitchen while your guest are having a good time in the living room. Since I love to have everything ready when guest arrive and not drink my glass of wine by myself with my vegetables, I had to find recipes that would allow me to do that.

For a long time, goat cheese was not one of my favorites, I thought it was too strong and smelled like a real goat (the same smell you can encounter at the gym, when people don’t use deodorant and have been working out in dirty clothes). I got to appreciate it more while living in Paris, sometimes during the weekend, all you want to do is get out of the crowded city and explore the countryside, see some greenery and breathe fresh air.

During our weekend getaways, we discovered a few goat farms where they raised goats to produce cheeses. Yes, when you enter the farm the goat smell is hard on your nostrils, much worse than cows or horses, and when you leave, you smell like a goat too, but c’est la nature!!..little by little, I somehow got to appreciate the diversity of goat cheeses and their flavors, and now it’s an ingredient I adore.

Ingredients for 4

• 8 slices of goat cheese (1.5 cm thick)
• 2 red bell peppers
• 2 shallots, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1.5 tsp honey
• 1 tbs balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbs parsley, chopped
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 2 tbs sunflower oil (or vegetable oil)
• 1 egg
• 1 cup plain bread crumbs
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Cut the cheese in 1/2 inch thick slices. Whisk egg and dip cheese slices in it, then coat with bread crumbs. Set aside.

Broil red pepper under broiler on all sides until the skin grills and turns dark. Remove from the oven, let it cool and remove the skin and the seeds. Cut in small strips, then in small dices. Set aside.

In a pan, heat olive oil and add shallots, brown the shallots, then add garlic. Cook for another few minutes to get the flavors out. Add honey, cook for a few minutes, then add balsamic vinegar, let it reduce. Add red peppers, stir well and coat peppers with mixture. Add parsley. Remove from heat.

In a pan, heat sunflower oil, brown the breaded goat cheese slices on both sides. When golden brown, remove from heat.

Place 2 slices of goat cheese in a plate and divide the red pepper salsa around them.

I made a pizza a few nights ago, something I don’t do as much as I used to, and I had leftover dough I didn’t want to through away. I just hate to throw away food and more so doughs that can be used in so many different ways. I have been thinking to combine goat cheese and lavender on some sort of a tart or small bites, voilà, c’est fait en un tour de main (it’s done in a hand twist if you have dough of course). Those canapés are tiny, about 2 inches in diameter, even though they seem a lot bigger by looking at the picture.

As much as I dislike lavender as a scent, I would never buy lavender soaps or fragrances, but I adore lavender in food, it feels like Provence with its warm and sunny days, vibrant colors and flower fragrances. Lavender is like vanilla for me, the smell in fragrances makes me cringe but I love cooking with it.

The particularity of pizza dough, is that it needs to cook fast at high temperature, to get a crisp bottom and not chewy. Usually I bake it in a very hot oven, at high temperature and the dough is always perfect. Well, it’s perfect for me, since I like it crunchy and not soft and chewy.

I used large oyster mushrooms, but any mushrooms such as cremini, would work fine. You could also use eggplants, that makes a great combination with goat cheese.

Never throw away leftover dough of any kind, you can always use it, it makes beautiful bites so when unexpected guest show up, they come in handy.

For about 12 canapés

• pizza dough or pate brisée
• 1/3 lb mushrooms
• 12 slices goat cheese
• honey
• lavender salt
• 1 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Sauté mushrooms, in olive oil, add salt and pepper and let cook until the water evaporates.

Roll dough very thinly, about 2 mm thick. Cut 2 inches circles with a cookie ring. Place some mushrooms, top it with goat cheese. Sprinkle with lavender salt and honey.

Bake in pre-heated oven at 400F for about 10 minutes until the bottom is golden brown and cheese has melted.

Serve hot.