Chefs shepherding goat cheese trend: a creamy compliment to many ingredients, chevre gains more widespread popularity

Goat cheese, strawberries, prosciutto

by Carolyn Walkup

Goat cheese, which is increasingly in demand and more widely produced by artisan cheese makers than ever before, is appearing on menus in everything from appetizers to desserts.

Sometimes called chevre, which is French for "goat," it ranges in texture from creamy to semifirm to firm and is processed in a variety of shapes. The flavor works especially well with acidic accompaniments, such as tomatoes or strawberries.

"The creaminess of goat cheese pairs well with the sweet acidity of tomatoes," notes Keith Luce, executive chef of the new Press in St. Helena, Calif. He is featuring an appetizer of fresh and roasted tomatoes, olive oil and grilled goat cheese.

Luce wraps fresh local chevre in fig leaves and grills it. He serves the wrapped cheese on top of roasted and raw sliced tomatoes, seasoned with sea salt and olive oil.

Across the country in Boston, Hamersley's Bistro chef-owner Gordon Hamersley uses goat cheese in several courses, including an appetizer of goat cheese ravioli with sorrel sauce and black olive tapenade. In addition to stuffing the ravioli with aged goat cheese, Hamersley shaves more of the ingredient over the top and finishes the dish with a cream sauce and a chiffonade of sorrel.

A meaty goat cheese ravioli appetizer makes an appearance on the menu at L'Etoile in Madison, Wis., where chef-partner Tory Miller fills the pasta pillows with beef short rib meat, baby chioggia and red beets. He tops the ravioli with Wisconsin chevre.

Mexican and Southwestern cuisines also make use of goat cheese. One example is John Manion's appetizer at Mas in Chicago, which is a layered tower of grilled flank steak, tomatoes, spiced goat cheese and cilantro "pesto." He often uses French goat cheese, which he finds to be mellower than the cheese he sometimes buys from artisan producers in Wisconsin.

For the steak salad Manion mixes soft goat cheese with chives and canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce. He makes two layers of tomatoes, spiced goat cheese, flank steak and cilantro pesto paste, mixed with Spanish almonds, garlic, Argentine Parmesan, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Mark Miller serves a tamale, an empanada and a tostada with goat cheese at his Coyote Cafe in Santa Fe, N.M. Goat cheese is the primary filling ingredient for the cocoa nibs tamale and shares billing with chorizo in the empanada. Goat cheese is accompanied by chipotle refried black beans, roasted garlic, chipotle and poblano peppers, escabeche, cilantro and other Mexican herbs, lettuce, radishes and orange-chipotle vinaigrette on the tostada.

Many chefs use goat cheese in salads, especially ones with tomatoes. One stalwart example is Bob Kinkead's tomato salad with lentils, basil and fresh goat cheese at Kinkead's in Washington, D.C.

He buys blocks of fresh goat cheese that can be molded into logs and rolled in finely chopped toasted walnuts or almonds, then sliced. "I like the lentils with it because their earthiness complements the earthy quality of the goat cheese. You can use any tomatoes. In the summer, there may be 10 different varieties," Kinkead says. The tomatoes are dressed in a light mixture of lemon juice, red wine vinegar, vegetable oil, basil, kosher salt and pepper.

His brother David makes a slightly different salad at his Sibling Rivalry in Boston--trio of roasted baby beets, arugula and haricots verts in a sherry vinaigrette dressing with goat cheese "fondue." He makes the fondue with a reduction of white wine and heavy cream and whisks in warm goat cheese and emulsifies it. He drizzles the thick liquid over the salad.

David Schneider, co-owner of Parallax in Cleveland, uses a mild goat cheese in a breaded, sauteed patty on top of a bed of endive and radicchio dressed with a mustard vinaigrette. "I use a milder goat cheese in the salad because I don't want to kill them with a big, rich cheese right off the bat," he says.

A firm local goat cheese rolled into balls, lightly breaded with Panko crumbs and briefly deep fried tops a tomato salad at Holly Hill Inn in Midway, Ky., served as part of the prix-fixe menu. Micro greens form the base of the salad, which is dressed with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, basil, salt and pepper.

"The cheese runs out over the salad," chef-partner Ouita Michel explains. In spring she makes a similar salad with asparagus instead of tomatoes.

Goat cheese pizza, popularized in California by Wolfgang Puck and others, is also on contemporary Italian menus in Italy, according to Tony Priolo, chef-partner of Coco Pazzo in Chicago. His early summer version from the wood-burning oven features a thin crust with pesto, topped with mild goat cheese, fresh mozzarella, fresh figs and prosciutto.

Alias in New York features a knife-and-fork sandwich with duck confit and goat cheese. Shane Coffey, executive chef, spreads a sliced focaccia bun with a mixture of pureed onions, spiced plum chutney and goat cheese. The boned duck confit leg comes next, followed by a currant and Port reduction and a garnish of chives and scallions.