I'd never heard of cooking pizza on a grill before this summer, so I had to see what all the fuss was about. Turns out it is super easy, quick and requires little clean up -- my kind of recipe. There are a few essential steps to keep in mind: have your toppings organized and ready to go, make sure your grill is hot, and grill the dough plain on one side first.
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I used fresh pizza dough from Whole Foods for this recipe, but Martha Stewart has an excellent recipe on her website if your in the mood to make your dough from scratch. You can also find pizza dough frozen in many supermarkets.

Here's the ingredients you'll need:

- Pizza dough
- Olive oil
- Flour for rolling out the dough and dusting the cookie sheet
- 1 red onion
- 8 0z log Allegheny Chevre
- 1 cup of sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 bulb garlic, roasted on grill 
- Fresh arugula

Start by heating up your grill. Cut the top off of garlic bulb, drizzle with olive oil, wrap in some tin foil and place on grill to roast -- about 15 minutes. Shape your pizza dough on a lightly floured surface -- I like to flatten the dough with my finger tips outward until a nice shape and thickness is achieved. Let dough sit for 5 minutes, then form dough once again until you have desired shape. 

Prepare your toppings: unwrap chevre log, shred your cheddar, and set aside a small bowl of olive oil. To caramelize onions fast, place 1 bulb of sliced red onion in a dry pan over medium-high heat. Cook for about 5 minutes or until brown. Add olive oil, a dash of salt and reduce heat to a low flame. Cook for about 5 more minutes.  

Dip paper towel in olive oil and rub on hot grill with a pair of tongs. Slide pizza dough off flat cookie sheet onto grill. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes. Dough will bubble, that's a good sign. Remove from grill, and carefully flip dough over to other side. Brush grilled side with olive oil and add toppings. Slide pizza back onto grill and cook for another 5-8 minutes or until bottom has a nice char and cheese is bubbling. Cut into squares and serve!

-- Grilled Pizza with Chevre, Cheddar, Caramelized Onions, Roasted Garlic & Arugula provided by Daniel.
 
 
I've been on-site out in Garrett County, Maryland at FireFly Farms headquarters this week! This recipe post wouldn't have been possible without the collaboration and generosity of our awesome team members. Joanne, one of our retail specialists and farmers market liaisons offerred up a gorgeous zucchini from her garden in Friendsville, MD. Thanks Joanne!
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I love this recipe for two reasons: it's easy and always comes out moist and delicious. One of the fun things about making sweet or savory breads is you can easily throw in extra ingredients (I added dried cranberries) to make the recipe extra special. 

Here's what you'll need:

2 eggs, beaten
1 1/3 cup sugar
2 - 3 teaspoons vanilla
 1 large fresh grated zucchini
2/3 cup melted unsalted butter
2 teaspoons baking soda
Pinch salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup dried cranberries (optional)
Allegheny Chevre (optional)
Apple & Peach Raw Blossom Honey (optional)

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Wait until loaf has cooled completely before cutting!
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How to do it:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Add in the grated zucchini and then the melted butter. Scatter baking soda and salt over the mixture and blend in. Add flour, about a third at a time. Mix in the cinnamon and nutmeg. Fold in the dried cranberries. 

Divide batter equally between 2 buttered 5 by 9 inch loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center of bread comes out clean. Cool in pans for about 10 minutes. Turn out onto wire racks to cool completely. Makes 2 loaves.

Toast a few slices of the bread on a panini press (or toaster oven) until golden brown. Spread Allegheny Chevre on toast and drizzle with honey. I had this for breakfast with blueberries and coffee. Absolutely divine!

--  Local Zucchini Bread with Allegheny Chevre & Raw Honey provided by Daniel 
 
 
This twist on an old back-yard favorite is a real winner.  Creamy Allegheny Chèvre elevates this Aunt-inspired classic to a whole new level.  You may find yourself with a Tupperware container full in the fridge at all times.
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This is another simple summer appetizer.  You know the basics:  hard boil the eggs, peel them, halve them and set aside the yolks.  Mix the yolks with Allegheny Chèvre -- we used about half a log for a dozen eggs.  Add a few tablespoons of your favorite dijon mustard and a few tablespoons of light mayonaise.  Mix in a healthy dash of hot sauce, and season with salt and pepper.  Mix well and spoon into the halved egg whites.  

From here, top as you feel inspired.  We topped with some beautiful Spanish white-anchovies and a sprig of fresh parsley.  It was fabulous.  Enjoy.
 
 
When I am not buying fresh produce from a farmers market I try my best to buy locally at the Whole Foods Market P Street -- I am always impressed with the variety of local fruits, vegetables, and herbs they consistently offer. Whenever I  do an in-store demo I always tell people that the Allegheny Chevre is our most versatile cheese; there are countless recipe opportunities to try, ranging from breakfast to dessert. In this recipe, the chevre provides the perfect balance of creamy sweetness to the savory red onion and basil. 
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I was feeling particularly peckish the morning I made this omelette, so I used 3 large eggs -- but 2 would work fine too. In a small bowl, beat eggs with sea-salt, black pepper, and whole milk or heavy cream (I used whole milk).  Place a non-stick pan over high-heat and add 1 tbs of butter -- be sure to swirl butter around to coat entire pan. Allow butter to foam, not brown, and add red onions. 

Once onions have turned slightly translucent, add egg mixture. Let eggs sizzle, wait a few seconds. Top eggs with crumbled chevre and basil. Move pan from left to right, shifting eggs around to settle for about 5 seconds. 

Slightly raise handle of pan and swiftly jerk pan towards you, causing the eggs to be moved against the far side of pan. Repeat about 5 times, once per second, or until desired shape is formed.

Lastly, tilt pan high and hold the side with the eggs over burner for another 5 seconds or so. To get the omelette safely onto the plate, I cheat. This isn't fancy people, but it works! I place a large plate over pan and just flip it over -- honestly, it works for me every time!
I quartered the bulb of red onion - then sliced lengthwise .
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Organic basil from Koinonia Farm in Stevenson, MD
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Whole Foods brand cage-free grade A fresh eggs.
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I used my hands to crumble the chevre and tear the basil leaves 
into the red onion and egg mixture.
-- Allegheny Chevre, Basil, & Red Onion Omelette provided by Daniel and adapted from Serious Eats.
 
 
So, for the 4th I couldn't resist a redux of the chèvre tart.  This version is a favorite, and is appropriately festive with blueberries, strawberries, and sour cherries all cooked up on a bed chèvre custard:  Red, White, and Blue Berry Tart!  Enjoy it at your celebrations - and my tip:  serve it chilled.
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Begin by lining a 9-inch tart pan with a simple pastry crust.  Home-made or store-bought work equally well.  Pre-bake the crust in a 400 degree oven until just golden -- be careful not to overcook at this point; you don't want the edges to burn when the custard is baking.  When you pull the crust out, drop the oven temperature to 350 degrees.

While the crust cools a bit, make the chèvre custard filling: whisk together 1 log of Allegheny Chèvre with half-cup milk, two eggs, a bit of vanilla extract and sugar.  We've used anywhere between half and full cup of sugar depending on how sweet we want the tart.  Last, whisk in the juice of half a lemon.  Pour the custard mix into the pre-baked crust.

Now the fruit: halve the bigger strawberries and mix together with the blueberries and the pitter sour cherries.  Mix the fruit together with a couple tablespoons of sugar -- just enough to coat the fruit -- then "sprinkle" the fruit evenly over the top of the tart.
The wonderful sour cherries from Toigo!
Tip:  these can be frozen and dropped into Vodka drinks, yum...
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Twin Spring Fruit Farm's beautiful, sweet blueberries.
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Our lovely fresh Allegheny Chevre
Pop the tart back into the 350 degree oven and bake for 45-60 minutes.  Check frequently during the final 15 -- you'll want to pull it out when the surface of the custard begins to brown about the edges and the smell throughout your kitchen is irresistible.  That said: resist.  Cool the tart in your fridge before you cut and serve.  You be glad you waited:  the custard develops a cheesecake texture, the flavors marry, and it cuts and serves beautifully.  (The freezer works too if you must eat it fast...).  Enjoy!
 
 
Another great chèvre tart -- this one savory -- based on the simple chèvre custard recipe that we've been using now for weeks in the kitchen.  These tarts are so easy to make and are successful as sweet or savory, served warm or cold.  Dear friend Kathy told me recently that these tarts are actually known as "clafoutis" among the culinary in-crowd.  This one was based inspired by the beautiful purple eggplant from New Morning Farm.
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Our first Our Local Pantry video post!  A "Vlog"?
I hope you enjoy it, and I trust it will help you understand just how easy making up these chèvre-based tarts can be in your own kitchen.

Authors Note:  I had a LOT of fun making this video.  It's a bit long -- my apologies -- but I learned a bunch about shooting and video editing.  I promise the next one will more concise!
Begin by lining a 9-inch tart pan with a simple pastry crust.  Again, if you have the time, make it from scratch.  I used the pre-made pie crusts available in the refrigerator section of the market -- quite good, and very reliable.   Pre-bake the crust in a 400 degree oven until just golden -- be careful not to overcook at this point; you don't want the edges to burn when the custard is baking.  

While the crust cools a bit, make the chèvre custard filling: whisk together 1 log of Allegheny Chèvre with half-cup milk, two eggs, and -- since this is a savory tart -- salt, pepper, and a bit of fresh ground nutmeg.   Watch the video for the blow-by-blow (and a little Crazy P soundtrack fix).  Pour the custard mix into the pre-baked crust.

Now, sprinkle on handfuls of chopped onion.  I used half a large onion from Next Step Produce that I had chopped, seasoned, and coated with a bit of olive oil.  Last, layer the eggplant slices on the top of the tart.  I sliced the beautiful purple eggplant thinly with a mandolin -- careful! -- then drizzled a bit of olive oil over the eggplant and seasoned the top of the tart of salt and fresh ground pepper.
Looks good enough to eat, no?
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My favorite market onions from Next Step Produce.
The beautiful purple eggplant from New Morning Farm,
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Creamy, tart Allegheny Chèvre.
Pop the tart back into the 400 degree oven and bake for about 45 minutes.  Check frequently during the final 15 -- you'll want to pull it out when the surface of the custard begins to brown about the edges.  Cool the tart in your fridge before you cut and serve.   These savory tarts work well solo alongside a salad, or with your favorite protein.  Enjoy!
 
 
This is a perfect summer-fresh, low-carb recipe that is quick and easy to prepare. I came across Spiral Path Farm's gorgeous head of bib lettuce and thought: "I want to put protein on that" - so beef lettuce wraps just seemed like a natural pairing. I was surprised by how filling the wraps were sans carbs, although I admit - the left-over beef made for an excellent burrito the next day. 
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I started off by seasoning the ground beef with: sea salt, black-pepper, and garlic powder. Then I warmed up a few tablespoons of peanut oil (I use WholeFoods' brand) over medium heat for a few minutes. After adding the fresh ground beef, I crumbled the meat into smaller pieces with a wooden spoon. As the beef browned, I cleaned all my veggies and prepared them for the dish. I julienned the cucumber and orange-bell pepper and sliced the red-onion.
100%  grass fed red devon ground beef  from EVENSoNG Farm
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I browned the ground beef in a saute pan with some peanut oil. 
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I julienned  the crisp, crunchy cucumbers from Spring Valley Farm & Orchard. 
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I gave the beef a good stir to ensure it was cooking evenly. Then I prepared the sriracha sauce, which was really simple: 2 tbs of sriracha sauce, 1 tbs of fish sauce, and 1 tbs of water - that's it! Once the beef was sufficiently browned I turned off the heat and squeezed the juice of one lime over the steaming beef. Then,  I added the sriracha concoction and gave it a good stir. The last part is always my favorite, assembling the wrap! 
Eli & Misty's Ramp Mustard from Spring Valley Farm & Orchard 
is  a new favorite condiment in my fridge! 
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To give the dish a dash of creaminess, I add some crumbles of Allegheny Chevre that slightly melted from the heat of the beef, which was an added bonus. Lastly, I poured about a spoonful of Eli & Misty's Ramp Mustard over the yummy ingredients, for a bit of tang. 
 
 
There's nothing quite as wonderful as sun-ripened strawberries.  The warm, wet, sunny spring has brought with it a bumper crop of some of the best I can remember.  This is dessert at its simplest: fresh strawberries topped with luscious chèvre cream and a sprinkle of slivered almonds for a bit of crunch.
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This dessert is as simple and healthy as it gets:  we used the strawberries from Anchor Nursery.  They were the best we've had all season -- red all the way through and super sweet.  We cleaned them and tossed them with a tablespoon or two of sugar -- just enough to coat them and pull out the color and bit of liquid.
The barely sugared strawberries from Anchor Nursery.
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Beautiful, no?
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The chèvre cream is a brilliant and bright complement: equal parts Allegheny Chèvre and your favorite greek-style yogurt mixed with a bit of vanilla extract, the juice of half a lemon, cardamom, and a pinch of cinnamon.  Mix it well and spoon it on top of the strawberries.  To finish, we sprinkled a handful of slivered almonds for a bit of crunch.  Done and done.
 
 
Allegheny Chèvre is perfect for cheesecakes and custards.  Baltimore chef and friend John Shields included a wonderful Allegheny Chèvre cheesecake in his cookbook Coastal Cooking and has served them in Gertrude's -- his restaurant at the Baltimore Museum of Art -- off and on for years.  This beautiful tart uses a simple chèvre-custard filling, fresh rhubarb, and fresh spring cherries.  It brought me back to Grossmutti Otilla's summer kitchen!
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Begin by lining a 9-inch tart pan with a simple pastry crust.  If you have the time, make it from scratch.  More likely, you don't:  Pablo and I have found the pre-made pie crusts in the refrigerator section of the market to be quite good, and there are a number of new all-natural brands.  Pre-bake the crust in a 400 degree oven until just golden -- be careful not to overcook at this point; you don't want the edges to burn when the custard is baking.  When you pull the crust out, drop the oven temperature to 350 degrees.

While the crust cools a bit, make the chèvre custard filling: whisk together 1 log of Allegheny Chèvre with half-cup milk, two eggs, a bit of vanilla extract and sugar.  We've used anywhere between half and full cup of sugar depending on how sweet we want the tart.  Last, whisk in the juice of half a lemon.  Pour the custard mix into the pre-baked crust.

Now the fruit: slice the rhubarb just like you would a celery stalk -- about one quarter-inch thick.  I used 3 good-sized stalks.  Pit and halve the cherries.  Mix the fruit together with a couple tablespoons of sugar -- just enough to coat the fruit -- then "sprinkle" the fruit evenly over the top of the tart.
The rhubarb from Gardner's Gourmet.  
Rhubarb always reminds me of Grossmutti Otilla.
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"Sprinkle" the fruit evenly over the top of the tart.
The sweet spring cherries from Sunnyside Farm & Orchard:  
brilliant, and they held up quite nicely in my crisper.
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Remove the cherry pits and halve the cherries.
Your mouth will be fully watering at this point.  Pop the tart back into the 350 degree oven and bake for about 45 minutes.  Check frequently during the final 15 -- you'll want to pull it out when the surface of the custard begins to brown about the edges and the smell throughout your kitchen is irresistible.  That said: resist.  Cool the tart in your fridge before you cut and serve.  You be glad you waited:  the custard develops a cheesecake texture, the flavors marry, and it cuts and serves beautifully.  (The freezer works too if you must eat it fast...).  Enjoy!
 
 
We love The Souper Girl.  Thanks to her, soups have stormed their way back into our culinary routine -- quite happily. Inspired by her leadership: this cold summer gaspacho topped with a gently-fried, panko-crusted, chèvre croquette.  The freshness of the farmer's market produce just shines through, and the creaminess of the warm chèvre creates a wonderful textural backdrop (slurp...).  Make your own this Memorial Day weekend!
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The creaminess of the warm chèvre creates a wonderful textural backdrop to the bright flavors of the fresh produce in the gaspacho.
Gaspacho is the soup of summer.  This cold, tomato-based soup is refreshing and bright and can be made with a variety of the fresh produce that you'll find at your farmer's market all summer long.  Chef Pablo used a FRESHFARM Dupont Market mix in this version: Toigo Orchard's fresh tomatoes, Next Step Produce onions,  Gardener's Gourmet fresh chives, and Spring Valley Farm & Orchard's baby zucchini.  Another tip from Pablo:  fire roast the veggies and chill them before you blend-up in your soup.  This lends a lovely smokey-flavor and depth to the soup.
Beautiful sweet onions from Next Step Produce.
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The fresh herbs from Gardener's Gourmet are wonderful in the kitchen.  We used a bit of this beautiful fresh chive in the soup, and as a garnish on the chèvre croquette. 
The ever-perfect tomatoes form Toigo: eat me!
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Beautiful baby zucchini from Spring Hill Farm & Orchard -- 
sweet and tender.
You can make your gaspacho in a large batch and leave it in the fridge -- our experience is that it just gets better with a little "aging" and flavor marrying.  Make the chèvre croquettes a la minute and serve warm on top of the soup.  Garnish with some of the fresh chive.
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The Allegheny Chèvre is perfectly suited for this:  Pablo uses about a 2 ounce slice, forms it into a "patty," dips it in egg wash, and coats it with a bit of panko.  Bread crumbs of any kind can be used.  The trick to perfect frying:  get your pan of olive oil red hot and fry one or two croquettes at a time; 2 minutes on a side.  Drain quickly on paper towel to remove excess and serve.