Toasted Goat Cheese and Stone Fruit Salad
by Joanne Weir

Dressing:
1 cup Navarro Riesling
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup almonds
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
6 small round discs fresh goat cheese, about 1 ounce each
2 cups panko
1 ripe nectarine
1 ripe plum
1 ripe apricot
1/2 cup pitted cherries
6 cups mixed salad greens

Place the wine in a saucepan over high heat and reduce until 2 tablespoons remain. Pour the reduced wine into a small bowl. Add the vinegar and olive oil. Whisk together. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Preheat an oven to 375°F. Place the almonds on a baking sheet and toast in the oven until golden, 7 to 10 minutes. Cool and chop coarsely.

Pour the oil over the goat cheese rounds and coat all sides of the goat cheese with the oil. Season the panko with salt and pepper. Remove the goat cheese from the oil and coat with panko. Place on a baking sheet and set in the refrigerator.

Cut the peach, nectarine, plums and apricots into 3/8-inch wedges.

Bake until the goat cheese is warm in the center and bubbling around the edges, 4 to 6 minutes.

Toss most of the vinaigrette with the greens and the remainder in a separate bowl with the stone fruit. Arrange the greens on the salad plate, top with the stone fruit and place the cheese tucked in on the side. Sprinkle with almonds and serve immediately.

Serves: 6
Wine Suggestion: Riesling

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Goat Cheese Ravioli with Chorizo and Kale
Michael Fiala, executive chef at the Inn at Turner’s Mill, created this recipe that utilizes cheese from Lake Erie Creamery.

2 cups fresh goat cheese
1/2 cup cream cheese
1 tablespoon freshly chopped thyme
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
4 frozen ravioli sheets (15x11”), thawed
6 ounces chorizo sausage
1 bunch kale
18 pearl onions, peeled and roasted
3 cups chicken broth

Mix the cheeses, thyme, salt and pepper until smooth. On a lightly floured surface, unroll one of the pasta sheets. Dot with tablespoons of the goat cheese (14 to 16 per sheet), evenly spaced. Unroll another pasta sheet, lay it over the first, and tamp down around the fillings. Cut around the filling with a pastry wheel to crimp and seal edges. Repeat with the remaining pasta and filling. Place ravioli on a heavily floured sheet and set aside.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

Cook the sausage in a large pan. Add the roasted onions and chicken broth and cook until very hot. Add the kale.

Reduce the water to a simmer. Add the ravioli and cook until it floats to the surface. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to the chicken broth. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Ladle into 6 warm soup bowls. Serve immediately.

Serves: 6

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Squash and Zucchini “Linguine” with Goat Cheese
by Douglas Katz
from “Green” Living Guide, Local Flavors, August, 2008

Cleveland chef Douglas Katz of Fire Food & Drink buys his goat cheese from local urban producer, Lake Erie Creamery. To showcase the creamy cheese, Katz serves it over strands of zucchini and yellow squash that look like noodles.

INGREDIENTS
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1 tablespoon snipped chives
• 3 pounds yellow squash and zucchini
• 4 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded and caps thinly sliced
• 1 small shallot, minced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• Pinch of crushed red pepper
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 4 ounces fresh goat cheese, crumbled (see Note)

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl, whisk the lemon juice, salt and pepper. Whisk in 1/4 cup of the olive oil and add the parsley and chives.
2. Using the julienne setting on a mandoline or julienne peeler, remove the outer layer of the squash and zucchini in long, thin strips. Reserve the seedy core for another use.
3. Fill a bowl with ice water. In a large saucepan of boiling salted water, blanch the squash and zucchini until slightly wilted, 30 seconds. Drain and transfer to the ice water to cool. Drain and pat thoroughly dry. Add the squash and zucchini to the dressing and toss to coat.
4. In a medium skillet, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the shiitake and cook over high heat until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the shallot, garlic and crushed red pepper and season with salt. Cook until the garlic and shallot are fragrant. Add the shiitake to the squash and toss. Wipe out the skillet.
5. Add the pine nuts to the skillet and toast over moderately high heat, stirring, until golden, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate to cool. Scatter the goat cheese over the squash, sprinkle with the pine nuts and serve right away.

FAST • HEALTHY • VEGETARIAN
Total Time: 45 minutes
Serves: 6

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Ohio Chevre Cheesecake on a Fennel-Seed Biscuit
with Tomato “Figs”, Tomato Syrup and Micro Fennel Salad
by Erica Wides of The Institute of Culinary Education in New York

Biscuits:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground fennel seed
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, diced
1 tablespoon cold water
kosher salt for sprinkling

Heat oven to 350
1. In a food processor, combine the flour, salt, pepper, fennel seed and baking soda, pulse well to combine. Add butter, and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the water as needed, only until dough comes together.

2. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface, divide into two pieces. Using your hands, roll dough into two 11/2" diameter logs. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, ideally about 3 hours.

3. Slice the logs into coins, 1/4" thick. Transfer to un-greased cookie sheet and sprinkle lightly with kosher salt. Bake for 15 minutes, until centers are firm. Transfer to a wire rack. Cool completely.

Cheesecake:
10 oz Lake Erie Creamery chevre (goat cheese) softened
4 sheets gelatin
1 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste

1. Place the chevre in the bowl of a standing mixer. Using the paddle attachment, soften the cheese until it the consistency of soft butter.

2. Soften the gelatin sheets in a small amount of cold water. In a small saucepan, heat the cream gently but don’t let it boil! Remove cream from the heat, drain the gelatin sheets and add to the cream. Stir to dissolve.

3. Add the cream and gelatin to the cheese, and gently mix to combine. Taste and season as desired. Divide the cheesecake into small molds, or chill it until firm then roll into a log, wrapped in plastic. Chill until very firm, then slice and place atop each biscuit.

Tomato “Figs” and Tomato Syrup
Traditionally these are dried in the sun for 3-4 days, but ideally a convection oven or dehydrator will work best.

4 pounds green zebra, plum or other small tomatoes, blanched and peeled
3 cups brown sugar
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar, white balsamic vinegar or verjus

1. Combine the tomatoes and brown sugar in a large non-reactive pan. Cook over low heat for 30 minutes, or until the tomatoes become translucent and the sugar penetrates them. Drain the tomatoes and reserve the remaining syrup.

2. Transfer the tomatoes to nonstick or silpat lined sheet pans, and place in the sun, or in a convection oven at 140 degrees, or in a dehydrator. Dry tomatoes until they are firm and dry, about 3 hours.

3. For tomato syrup. Combine remaining syrup and vinegar or verjus. Drizzle over cheesecakes.

Micro Fennel Salad
2 ounces Chef’s Garden micro fennel
2 ounces Chef’s garden micro red mustard
olive oil
salt and pepper

1. Toss herbs, oil and salt and pepper in a small bowl, serve with chevre cheesecakes.

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