Summertime Treat Grilled Fruit

 There are so many summertime harvests right now from late season cherries to peaches. what is great about the fruit of the season is that they can be grilled. Any can be used as dessert or even in side dishes.

Surprisingly any fruit can be roasted and grilled even the littlest ones. Grilled or roasted cherries are easy to make and can go with everything from pork chops to chocolate ice cream.All they need to be is pitted to make sure no one breaks a tooth and then tossed in a mix of olive oil, sea salt and ground pepper.YOu can roast these on a grate on your grill or in your oven. MInced parsley could be added to this for a savory quality which would make them perfect to add to a salad. These could also be added to a dressing too for a lively zing to a grilled chicken or steak salad. Going to the bigger fruit, peaches lend themselves to coals or oven. Again they need to be pitted and halved before cooking. Brush them with melted butter or olive oil and then cook for four to six minutes on both sides. Again these are versatile. Add some brown sugar to the melted butter for added sweetness and then serve the peaches topped with vanilla ice cream or vanilla yogurt. Grilled peaches are also perfect as a side to grilled chicken and combined they make for a wonderful salad with the addition of feta cheese and arugula. Serve with a balsamic dressing.

Most grillers usually stick to those backyard dessert classics - watermelon and pineapple. Although water melon tastes good when it's chilled ,it's equally as delicious grilled.Keep in mind to cut it into thick triangular wedges. Arrange the pieces on thee grill and cook for about two to three minutes or until grill marks appear. Some home chefs put a honey sauce on them but you can also just eat them plain as well. A watermelon salad is a nice side to burgers and hot dogs. Start with a dressing of balsamic vinegar and olive oil. You could use red wine dressing if the balsamic is too strong.Add arugula and a nice crumble cheese like chevre or goat cheese.Mix and serve. You could add grapes or walnuts too if you want more flavor. Grilled pineapple is always a treat at the end of a cookout,It's just brushing the rings or slices with a mix of melted butter and honey or brown sugar. Add a little sea salt to bring out the fruity flavor and grill for two to three minutes on each side. You could add it to  a salad but it does taste good with with just a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of mango ice.

We're in the full swing of harvest season. It's time to use the harvest in a number of versatile ways. Try grilling the local fruit for tasty sides and desserts.

A Religious Whey

Truly good goat cheese is usually a European product. Mostly the French have mastered it, creating a silken textured fromage that just melts on the tongue. However there is competition coming from America's heartland, A  simply made cheese is winning prizes and palates.It comes from a devout Mennonite couple who may live sparsely but produce luxurious wedges.

Regular contributor, Kim Severson wrote about Veronica and Steve Baetje in yesterday's New York Times Food section yesterday. Mrs Baetje is a bit unusual in these cynical and questioning times, she had made a pact with God.If He could make her business successful, she would talk about Him as much as she could, even putting Bible quotes on their labels..It paid off. Their chevre or goat cheese has beat out 2,600 competitors to earn a top ranking at the World Cheese Awards. However it could also be a gentle and strident way of handling the curds and whey too,.Goat's milk  is more delicate than cow's milk, and it's' filled with tiny fragile fat globules. slosh it around for too long and the protein breaks down, Get rough with it and the curds are ruined and won't hold the cheese's most crucial ingredient moisture..Mrs. Baetje knows this and handles it with the utmost care.Yes there is Divine Intervention, but there's also inborn talent  at work  here too.

The extra care has paid off.Their cheese is becoming more and more popular. Much of it gets sold at farmers markets and by chef's around the Saint Louis vicinity.It can also be had at local whole Foods along with some Manhattan cheese shops.If you aren't near any of those, the Baetjes do have a website that sells their many flavors. Mrs. Baetje sells about 750 (!) pounds a week. The cheeses does have appeal. She lovingly hand shapes them into hearts and flavored with herbs along with the surprise  one of pumpkin. There are also other variations such as Amoureux, a nutty aged cheese with a vein of ash. She tinkers constantly with the cheeses. There is also a Couer de la crème with cranberry and orange, perfect for a holiday brunch. Get their three pepper one for a party cheese board for something different. A great gift to any foodie is their marinated feta which is soaked with good Greek olive oil , herbs and decorated with a sun dried tomato.Cheese affectionados   would love receiving their Miette, a sweet creamy cheese perfect for those holiday loaves.

Veronica and Steve Baetje believe that God has given success in their cheese business. Yet, their talent is also responsible for making excellent fromage de chevres. They are heavenly cheeses made with an earth bound love and determination.