Marinated Goat Cheese Salad

It was finally time to pull the marinated goat cheese out of the fridge to find out how weeks of marinating went. The answer? Delicious. To be honest, the original recipe called for the jar to be kept in a "cool place." I have to believe that if I had a cool place in my apartment aside from my fridge, that the flavors would have infused the cheese even more. However, until just recently, there hasn't been an only mildly warm place in my apartment, let alone somewhere cool. I think I will have to try this again once it really gets cold this winter and see if the flavors change.

The reason for marinating the goat cheese in the first place was to make the salad from Anne Willan's The Country Cooking of France. So, without further ado...

Marinated Goat Cheese Salad

Serves 4

1 package arugula blend lettuce

1 recipe marinated goat cheese

8 slices bread

2 T red wine vinegar

6 T oil from marinating plus more for brushing bread

salt and pepper to taste

Heat the broiler. Cut a round from each slice of bread. Cut each slice of cheese in half horizontally and place one piece of cheese on each slice of bread. The oil still coating the cheese should be more than enough to coat the bread, but if necessary, brush a little more oil on the bread. Mix together the vinegar, salt and pepper and then drizzle in the olive oil while whisking vigorously to emulsify the dressing. Place the cheese bread under the broiler for approximately five minutes until golden. Dress the salad, adding more seasoning if necessary. Divide the lettuce between four serving plates and top with two slices of cheese bread. Enjoy!