Goat Cheese

To me, May will always be goat cheese weather. Walk into any cheese shop, and it's a petting zoo of pretty goodies: goat cheeses wrapped in leaves, rolled in flowers, molded into balls and bells. It's worth a stroll through Reading Terminal Market or your favorite cheese shop just to check out the Loire Valley bling - the most-prized French goat cheeses appear in spring, just after new pastures have been grazed. One of the best ways to celebrate this bounty is to assemble a seasonal goat cheese board.

Even though I feared making crepes, this recipe looked like a good choice for a family dinner. I'm happy to report that these were easy and delicious, stuffed with a savory blend of goat cheese, herbs, and shallots.   Savory Goat-Cheese Crepes Makes 4 servings   1. Sift the flour into a bowl. Add the salt. Make a well in the center of the flour and break the eggs into it. Whisking in the center of the mixture, slowly draw the flour in until it is fully mixed.

Rittenhouse Row's Spring Festival is Saturday and it will be like lots of other street fairs. Except for the goat cheese and grilled tuna. And the French Fashion show. And the opera singers, ballerinas and celebrity chefs. You were expecting coney dogs and midway games? Not on tony Rittenhouse Row, where the annual festival affords the owners of the area's restaurants, shops, spas, galleries and cultural institutions the opportunity to step outside and show off. "It's really a celebration of who we are," said Kelly Boyd, a consultant to the 270-member Rittenhouse Row association and one of the event's organizers.

Makes 2-4 servings 8 ounces fresh chèvre, room temperature 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon lemon zest 1/4 teaspoon green peppercorns, milled or ground Fresh rosemary and thyme, to taste Sea salt (optional) Combine these ingredients to form a uniformly zesty dip, or simply drizzle the olive oil and herbs over a log of fresh goat cheese for a mezze-style appetizer. Set the goat cheese on a lipped plate and press down on it with the back of a spoon, creating a trough for your toppings.

What's to eat? The genesis of all good things at the tiny, eye-poppingly bright yellow-and-red truck is a big, fat, juicy Angus burger for five or six bucks, depending how you build it. Wait: Five minutes. The Drexel Dragons are on summer break. Why we love it: Incredible burger taste without the trendy-burger-joint lines or skyscraper-high prices of Center City. Try this: One of the best bacon cheeseburgers ever. Or go for a daily special such as The Fresko, a "romantically seasoned" burger with marjoram, oregano, parsley, mint, minced garlic, cracked pepper and Mediterranean Sea salt, plus roasted peppers, arugula, goat cheese, tzatziki, balsamic reduction and Lord only knows what else.

Ralph Costobile may be the lunch chef at the Four Seasons' elegant Fountain Restaurant and Swann Lounge, but he started out as a mere onlooker in his grandmothers' South Philadelphia kitchens. Growing up at Passyunk and Dickinson, Costobile watched his parents' mothers bake cinnamon cookies, cheesecake and Easter bread, and prepare the feast of seven fishes for Christmas Eve. In the summer, young Ralph was allowed to help jar tomatoes for traditional gravy. Remembering what it was like to be a kid in his grandmas' kitchens, the chef devised a sandwich that's easy (and safe)

The diversity and volume of high-quality cheeses being produced in Chester County are downright impressive. Here is a sample of what local chefs are featuring on cheese plates, and in risottos and salads. Find more information on the makers (and where to get their goods) at chestercountycheese.org. Cloud Nine from Yellow Springs Farm: Aptly named, this cotton-ball-esque goat cheese has a pure-white bloomy rind that hides a smooth, subtly tangy, addictive bite inside. Birchrun Blue from Birchrun Hills: This raw cow's-milk cheese is aged for at least 60 days, has a sweet and tangy true blue taste, and a texture between crumbly and spreadable.

The summer bounty of garden-fresh vegetables makes this dish a treat. I first tasted it at a restaurant in France. The sauce was made at the table, and the aroma was so wonderful we couldn't wait to eat. The sauce is made with eggplant, zucchini, bell peppers, ripe tomatoes, and tangy goat cheese that melts to coat the vegetables. Use the best- quality vegetables you can find. Penne Primavera 1. Place a large saucepan filled with 3 to 4 quarts water on to boil over high heat.

Cheese of the Month I'm usually a purist when it comes to my monthly fromage, but Shellbark Hollow Farm's fresh goat has become such a splendid canvas for local chefs, I couldn't resist this casserole from Southwark's Sheri Waide. It's an easy holiday hit. Waide creams a quarter-pound each of Shellbark's fresh and aged goat cheeses, then adds a custard of 8 eggs blended with a quart of heavy cream and 2 tablespoons of chopped herbs (parsley, thyme, rosemary, tarragon, and chives)

Makes 2-4 servings 8 ounces fresh chèvre, room temperature 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon lemon zest 1/4 teaspoon green peppercorns, milled or ground Fresh rosemary and thyme, to taste Sea salt (optional) Combine these ingredients to form a uniformly zesty dip, or simply drizzle the olive oil and herbs over a log of fresh goat cheese for a mezze-style appetizer. Set the goat cheese on a lipped plate and press down on it with the back of a spoon, creating a trough for your toppings.

To me, May will always be goat cheese weather. Walk into any cheese shop, and it's a petting zoo of pretty goodies: goat cheeses wrapped in leaves, rolled in flowers, molded into balls and bells. It's worth a stroll through Reading Terminal Market or your favorite cheese shop just to check out the Loire Valley bling - the most-prized French goat cheeses appear in spring, just after new pastures have been grazed. One of the best ways to celebrate this bounty is to assemble a seasonal goat cheese board.

The Smoke Truck, featuring the barbecue prowess of Mississippian Mark A. Coates, impressed the judges and was named winner of the Vendy Cup at the second annual Vendy Awards Saturday. People's choice winner was Vernalicious - Verna Swerdlow and David Jurkofsky's comfort-fooder - and best dessert honors went to Lil' Pop Shop, Jeanne Chang and Vince Tseng's popsicle company. The winners of both the 2011 and 2012 Philadelphia Vendy Awards will roll into Eakins Oval on Thursday, for the Winners' Oval Event.

What's to eat? The genesis of all good things at the tiny, eye-poppingly bright yellow-and-red truck is a big, fat, juicy Angus burger for five or six bucks, depending how you build it. Wait: Five minutes. The Drexel Dragons are on summer break. Why we love it: Incredible burger taste without the trendy-burger-joint lines or skyscraper-high prices of Center City. Try this: One of the best bacon cheeseburgers ever. Or go for a daily special such as The Fresko, a "romantically seasoned" burger with marjoram, oregano, parsley, mint, minced garlic, cracked pepper and Mediterranean Sea salt, plus roasted peppers, arugula, goat cheese, tzatziki, balsamic reduction and Lord only knows what else.

The diversity and volume of high-quality cheeses being produced in Chester County are downright impressive. Here is a sample of what local chefs are featuring on cheese plates, and in risottos and salads. Find more information on the makers (and where to get their goods) at chestercountycheese.org. Cloud Nine from Yellow Springs Farm: Aptly named, this cotton-ball-esque goat cheese has a pure-white bloomy rind that hides a smooth, subtly tangy, addictive bite inside. Birchrun Blue from Birchrun Hills: This raw cow's-milk cheese is aged for at least 60 days, has a sweet and tangy true blue taste, and a texture between crumbly and spreadable.

Chef Patrick Feury unwrapped the disks of Yellow Springs Farm goat cheese and wiped them down with the gentle touch usually reserved for newborns and puppies. It's all part of his process of aging the product himself, something he learned at cheese school in Vermont last year. When he picks up the goods from the Chester County makers, they are two weeks young. He matures them for two to three more weeks. "Part of serving them is making sure that the characteristics are at their best," says the chef of Nectar, in Berwyn.

4-6 tablespoons melted butter 7 sheets of phyllo 3 green garlic shoots,? (substitute 4 scallions or small? bunch of chives and 2 cloves of? garlic) 8 ounces creamy fresh goat? cheese, at room temperature 1 egg 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil 1 large bunch greens (approx.? 1 pound) such as Swiss chard, ? kale, or spinach, washed and? trimmed Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Melt the butter in a small saucepan.

Everyone I know who visits southern India comes back with a taste for the region's street food called dosa. It's a paper-thin crepe filled with a spicy potato filling. Barring a trip into Manhattan, Philadelphia dosa lovers were left to their dosa memories. No longer so. Nirav Mehta and partner Baldev Singh (who owns two northern Indian restaurants outside the city) took the concept and created Philadelphia Chutney Company. The first location just opened off Rittenhouse Square, and more of these healthy, inexpensive fast-food operations are planned for some university locations.

The summer bounty of garden-fresh vegetables makes this dish a treat. I first tasted it at a restaurant in France. The sauce was made at the table, and the aroma was so wonderful we couldn't wait to eat. The sauce is made with eggplant, zucchini, bell peppers, ripe tomatoes, and tangy goat cheese that melts to coat the vegetables. Use the best- quality vegetables you can find. Penne Primavera 1. Place a large saucepan filled with 3 to 4 quarts water on to boil over high heat.

From a quick glance at the flour-dusted baby face that sidled up to our table at Zavino to check on our meal, I'd never have guessed that chef-owner Steven Gonzalez was even remotely near 30 years old. But take a closer look at the angry welts that stripe his forearms - they're hard to miss as he wields a pizza cutter and dusts pinches of cheese atop finished pies in front of the furnace glow of his hot brick oven ? and it's clear Gonzalez is a tested veteran of Philly's rapidly rising pizza wars.