Gruyere

Cold weather and hot cheese go together, so it's no wonder I've been craving fondue, molten-lidded French onion soups, and grilled cheese sandwiches. But what exactly to melt? Mozzarella can be too bland; aged cheddar too sharp. Even a big Gruyere can show too much swagger. That's why Comte, a more understated member of the Gruyere clan, is the perfect choice. Made in the Jura mountains of France, Comte is a firm raw-milk cheese with a mountain tang, but with a softer side, too, and overtones of nuts and a fruity finish.

Weekends down the shore keeping you from your regular Saturday or Sunday visits to the Italian Market? Then you probably didn't know that DiBruno Brothers' House of Cheese just opened a second Pronto prepared foods market in the old Frank's Butcher Shop at 920 S. 9th St. And you probably haven't tasted the sandwich the friendly guys behind the counter modestly consider to be the best grilled cheese on the planet. It's made with fresh focaccia from Cacia's Bakery on Ritner Street and contains cheeses from the world's foremost cheese-producing countries: mellow manchego sheep's milk cheese from Spain, smooth Fontina Val d'Aosta from Italy, buttery Brie from France and rich cave-aged Gruyere from Switzerland (which all happen to be for sale at nearby DiBruno's)

'Eat it, Daddy! Eat it! Take a bite of the enchanted burger!" Through the side of my curly wig and Zorro mask, I could see my kids and their little pals from the block cheering me on. I had been holding a Rouge burger out in front of my face for several minutes like a tempting storybook treasure - the amazingly thick patty dripping with juice and Gruyere cheese that glistened in the midday sun. Eating it sounded like a good idea. It had become an enchanted burger, indeed. I brought the burger to my lips . . . " Don't take a bite!

As the song goes, "In heaven there is no beer," but East Falls has plenty at Fork and Barrel, the 6-week-old European beer haven. Fork and Barrel is the latest creation of Matt Scheller and Matt and Colleen Swartz, the Lehigh Valley trio who own and operate the Tap and Table and the Bookstore Speakeasy. They've ventured into Philadelphia with the concept of pairing a wide array of lesser-known European beers with dishes that are classically inspired farmhouse fare. Scheller heads up the beverage program that is so beer-centric, there's no wine or spirits.

Although it is in its sixth summer season, The Back Yard in Stone Harbor is not yet widely known. But thanks to local advertising and word-of-mouth recommendations, that is changing. As it should, for with an incomparable outdoor garden setting and an imaginative cuisine, The Back Yard offers a memorable dining experience. Although a few tables are inside, most dining is outside on a brick patio behind a single-family house on a residential street just a block from the Avalon boundary line.

It was with great joy that I discovered my mother's old fondue pot, stowed away in her cupboard like a forgotten curio in a vintage gadget shop. It might as well have been. It's probably been decades since my lipid-conscious parents sat anywhere near a cauldron of bubbling fat. But wise as I am to the magic powers of a good caquelon pot, I took it off their hands and waited. Waited for what? I waited for the snows that finally came, glazing the streets with the icy white frost of winter.

Edward Edelman has taken three decades of experience earned at his Second Avenue cheese shop in New York, put it together with his writing skills and come up with The Ideal Cheese Book (Harper & Row, $22.95 hard-cover, $11.95 paperback). The book, whose title parallels the name of his shop, offers descriptions of cheeses from around the world and includes more than 130 recipes to showcase them. Food writer Susan Grodnick joined Edelman in preparing this guide to the vast number of exotic and common cheeses available in this country.

At one time, nearly everyone read the Philadelphia Bulletin. By 1982, not enough people did, and the venerable broadsheet published its last edition on Jan. 29 of that year. Browsing through chef Fritz Blank's cookbook library one recent afternoon, I came across the Philadelphia Bulletin's "The Best of Everything Cookbook" (Chicago Tribune-New York News Syndicate), compiled by Eleanor Graves and published in 1971. As it turned out, the 575-page volume is not a collection of recipes from the Bulletin, but one of "best" recipes from 59 different books by such diverse authors as James Beard, Peg Bracken, Adele Davis, Joyce Chen, Dione Lucas and Jean Nidetch.

When it comes to creating a cheese plate, simplicity rules, said Chef Jenny Harris of Tria cafe in Center City. "I strongly recommend serving cheese with the freshest baguette you can find," she said. "Many crackers have strong flavors that would clash with or detract from these top-of-the-line artisan cheeses. " The accompaniment should accentuate the cheese's flavor or contrast it, but not mask it, she continued. "If you choose to serve foods with cheeses, keep it simple. The cheese is the star of the show.

Spoon sauce over a cooked vegetable. Sprinkle with a simple topping, brown in the oven, and you have a gratin. Even avowed veggie-haters enjoy their greens when enhanced this way. From Paris to Provence, gratins (GRAH-tins) have long played a role similar to our casseroles, and not just for vegetables. You can apply the gratin principle to pasta or protein foods or use it to create new dishes from leftovers. For an elegant dish that's easy and fairly fast, it's hard to beat this staple of French home cooking.

As the song goes, "In heaven there is no beer," but East Falls has plenty at Fork and Barrel, the 6-week-old European beer haven. Fork and Barrel is the latest creation of Matt Scheller and Matt and Colleen Swartz, the Lehigh Valley trio who own and operate the Tap and Table and the Bookstore Speakeasy. They've ventured into Philadelphia with the concept of pairing a wide array of lesser-known European beers with dishes that are classically inspired farmhouse fare. Scheller heads up the beverage program that is so beer-centric, there's no wine or spirits.

It's a cruel fate for someone who is not a morning person to be a lover of morning food. There is nothing more blissful than starting the day with a steaming mug of coffee, a plate of eggs or a tower of pancakes, and a newspaper stretched out before me - so long as I can postpone actually preparing the foods for this tableau until noon. Easter morning adds church and Easter baskets to the mix, along with friends and family to be fed, which means the host is forced to wake at an indecent hour clearheaded enough to wield sharp objects and keep pancakes off the ceiling.

Cold weather and hot cheese go together, so it's no wonder I've been craving fondue, molten-lidded French onion soups, and grilled cheese sandwiches. But what exactly to melt? Mozzarella can be too bland; aged cheddar too sharp. Even a big Gruyere can show too much swagger. That's why Comte, a more understated member of the Gruyere clan, is the perfect choice. Made in the Jura mountains of France, Comte is a firm raw-milk cheese with a mountain tang, but with a softer side, too, and overtones of nuts and a fruity finish.

When it comes to creating a cheese plate, simplicity rules, said Chef Jenny Harris of Tria cafe in Center City. "I strongly recommend serving cheese with the freshest baguette you can find," she said. "Many crackers have strong flavors that would clash with or detract from these top-of-the-line artisan cheeses. " The accompaniment should accentuate the cheese's flavor or contrast it, but not mask it, she continued. "If you choose to serve foods with cheeses, keep it simple. The cheese is the star of the show.

"Eat it, Daddy! Eat it! Take a bite of the enchanted burger!" Through the side of my curly wig and Zorro mask, I could see my kids and their little pals from the block cheering me on. I had been holding a Rouge burger out in front of my face for several minutes like a tempting storybook treasure - the amazingly thick patty dripping with juice and Gruyere cheese that glistened in the midday sun. Eating it sounded like a good idea. It had become an enchanted burger, indeed. I brought the burger to my lips . . . "Don't take a bite!"

Spoon sauce over a cooked vegetable. Sprinkle with a simple topping, brown in the oven, and you have a gratin. Even avowed veggie-haters enjoy their greens when enhanced this way. From Paris to Provence, gratins (GRAH-tins) have long played a role similar to our casseroles, and not just for vegetables. You can apply the gratin principle to pasta or protein foods or use it to create new dishes from leftovers. For an elegant dish that's easy and fairly fast, it's hard to beat this staple of French home cooking.

Weekends down the shore keeping you from your regular Saturday or Sunday visits to the Italian Market? Then you probably didn't know that DiBruno Brothers' House of Cheese just opened a second Pronto prepared foods market in the old Frank's Butcher Shop at 920 S. 9th St. And you probably haven't tasted the sandwich the friendly guys behind the counter modestly consider to be the best grilled cheese on the planet. It's made with fresh focaccia from Cacia's Bakery on Ritner Street and contains cheeses from the world's foremost cheese-producing countries: mellow manchego sheep's milk cheese from Spain, smooth Fontina Val d'Aosta from Italy, buttery Brie from France and rich cave-aged Gruyere from Switzerland (which all happen to be for sale at nearby DiBruno's)

It was with great joy that I discovered my mother's old fondue pot, stowed away in her cupboard like a forgotten curio in a vintage gadget shop. It might as well have been. It's probably been decades since my lipid-conscious parents sat anywhere near a cauldron of bubbling fat. But wise as I am to the magic powers of a good caquelon pot, I took it off their hands and waited. Waited for what? I waited for the snows that finally came, glazing the streets with the icy white frost of winter.

At one time, nearly everyone read the Philadelphia Bulletin. By 1982, not enough people did, and the venerable broadsheet published its last edition on Jan. 29 of that year. Browsing through chef Fritz Blank's cookbook library one recent afternoon, I came across the Philadelphia Bulletin's "The Best of Everything Cookbook" (Chicago Tribune-New York News Syndicate), compiled by Eleanor Graves and published in 1971. As it turned out, the 575-page volume is not a collection of recipes from the Bulletin, but one of "best" recipes from 59 different books by such diverse authors as James Beard, Peg Bracken, Adele Davis, Joyce Chen, Dione Lucas and Jean Nidetch.