Strawberry Bruscetta

I didn't think of this as a bruscetta at first, but upon further consideration, I realized that it fit into the guidelines I previously laid out. It's kind of an odd one, because it involves the not-so-classic combination of strawberries and cheese, but it ended up pretty good.

I picked up a bag of short baguettes from CostCo yesterday morning, and a box of strawberries. Unlike the strawberries that inspired the sorbet a week ago, these were very ripe and very fresh. How is it that a warehouse like CostCo always seems to have the best produce? Anyway, I sliced the baguettes in half both ways and put the pieces in the toaster oven for a few minutes. When they were browned, I pulled them out, buttered them, added a few sliced strawberries, then sprinkled with finely grated Linconshire poacher cheese, and put them back in the toaster oven to melt the cheese.

When I pulled them out and took a bite, they were okay, but a little tart. I was afraid I had screwed it up with the cheese. Then, on a whim, I drizzled a little bit of honey on one and tried it out. It was nice, certainly much better, but when it comes down to it, I've never been a big fan of honey. So for the next bite, I tried a quick drizzle of real maple syrup. Perfect! Not only did it mellow the strawberries, it actually brought out the flavor of the cheese and complimented it. Not a bad way to start off the day.