Bruschetta

Good morning, everyone.
Besides the usual rolling cycle of relayed need, problems, and surprise that fills the early morning of every day that has the opening of a restaurant's door as its goal, I spent a bit of time this morning with a tray of bruschetta. Right now I can't decide if the truly wonderful thing about bruschetta is that it is simple, or if it is that it is so variable. There's nothing I like better about cooking than the whole surprise of it. That's all wound up in the 'something-from-nothing' challenge, that great feeling of having just made dinner for 3 from the last 6 items in the fridge. The thought of cooking from a recipe depresses me. Although I love recipes, I possibly have no respect for them. I change them, adulterate them, criticize and betray them. Don't get me wrong, I have the correct respect and chef's worship of science and technique, particularly where pastry is concerned, as baking lives and dies by weights and measures. But a recipe will put me in an abandoned state of misbehavior faster than a ten-year old with a slingshot.
Back to the bruschetta. At the final plate-up of a catering set to 'walk' at 2:00, I began the usual nervous banter concerning quantity. Any caterer with a cell's worth of morals obsesses on quantities to some extent, every job. What if we run out of shrimp? (always the shrimp, the mainstay of America's catered menu.) Bruschetta's the answer. I know you have these obsessions too, so here's what to do:

Chef's Bruschetta
French bread, the nice round one with the crust.
Slice it a bit on the angle, about 1/2" thick. Lay them on a sheet pan in a single layer.
Next you need oil. This could be olive oil: sprinkle it lightly over the bread. Or brush on a little pesto, it has plenty of oil in it. Don't use butter, it will brown too quickly.
Then your topping. This is where any concept of recipe is foiled. Use whatever you like, just be frugal. You want to see the edges of the slice, and you don't want so much topping that it will melt over the edge. Remember, this is your appetizer "amuse bouchee". The bread is the vehicle, the topping a small amusement. Today I used a smear of pesto, a few flakes of house smoked salmon, and a little piece of brie. Some of my favorite components are roasted garlic, sun dried tomato, fresh basil leaf, anchovy, Parmesan, creamy blue cheese, mushroom duxelle, salami, and my all-time favorite: the last 6 things in the fridge.
Bake in a hot oven, use the convection if you have it, until the edges start to toast.
Whatever you do, please enjoy.
Gay.