Hand wrapped in grape leaves, Rogue River Blue has a smooth complex flavor that ranges from sweet and fruity to nutty. Its texture is intensely rich, reminiscent of a Roquefort Baragnaudes. However, unlike Roquefort -- which is produced from raw sheep's milk -- this blue is made from raw cow's milk. And in contrast to many blues, like Gorgonzola Piccante, this one is more sweet than spicy. So, for those of you whose palates have been traumatized by overly-pungent blues, this one is sure to win you over.
Like most delicious artisanal cheeses, the craftsmanship (and local collaboration) involved in producing Rogue River Blue is directly responsible for its brilliant taste and consistency. The cheese comes from Rogue Creamery in Central Point, Ore. There, in the Rogue River Valley, the wheels are covered in grape leaves that are harvested from nearby Carpenter Hill Vineyard. But these aren't just any grape leaves: They're all macerated in Clear Creek's Pear Brandy and then tied to the cheese with strands of raffia.
Turkey, Blue Cheese and Caramelized Onion Tart. Photo: Sarah LeTrent.
Few of us want to make a complicated lasagna for solo dining -- by day six, you'll never want to see lasagna again! In this series, AOL Food staffer Sarah LeTrent taste-tests simple recipes suitable for a "table for one."
Despite appearances, tarts are quite rudimentary to assemble. Plus they are a simple and elegant way to use up your leftovers. When I found my refrigerator stocked with a lone baked turkey breast, blue cheese and an onion, the endless versatility of tarts struck a cord of culinary inspiration.
Seems like caramelized onions and pungent cheese -- be it blue, Roquefort or gorgonzola -- have an affinity for one another in many recipes. This savory tart is no exception: The sweetness of the onions is absolutely ambrosial with tangy fromage bleu. And while turkey tends to be overlooked in months that don't end in "ember," it is used here as a protein-packed topping.
In this weekly series, home cook Bruce Watson works his way through a decades-old family cookbook, adapting the best recipes exclusively for Slashfood.
Going through my old family cookbook, I came across my Aunt Renie's recipe for blue cheese meatloaf. Like many of Renie's recipes, this one has a long pedigree and an old school gourmet touch. However, the original had a heavy touch of sage, which made the loaf fairly bland.
Experimenting with various sauces in my kitchen, I found that the meatloaf tasted amazing when served with a hearty dollop of barbecue sauce. My modified version, featured below, integrates the barbecue sauce into the meatloaf, along with a huge amount of blue cheese. This, combined with a shorter cooking time, yields a finished product that narrows the distance between meatloaf and paté. With that in mind, you might consider serving this dish with sliced pickles, mustard or other paté accompaniments!
Get the recipe for barbecue blue cheese meatloaf after the jump!
Those mourning the loss of their beloved, stinky French Roquefort (which just saw a hefty tariff bump) will delight in this wallet-friendly blue from the good old U.S. of A.
Mineral Point (Wis.)'s own Tilston Point is not the most attractive hunk of cheese we've ever seen, with a yellow-orange hue and blue veins that lend it the appearance of a past-its-prime cheddar. For its unctuous flavor, though, it's worth it: Tilston Point features the complex, luscious texture of its French counterpart along with the earthiness of a Stilton. Its refined flavors range from sweet to mineral-like and linger on the palate. Tasting this fromage is like getting stuck to a bench, enraptured, in front of Monet's water lilies. (OK, maybe we're getting a littlecarried away. Long story short: It rules.)
Hook's Cheese Company's Tony Hook and wife Julie have been handcrafting cheese including cheddar, Colby and Monterey Jack for more than 30 years. In 1997, they began perfecting a series of blue cheeses and in 2004 created Tilston Point, their sole washed-rind cow's milk blue, aging it for 10 months to a year. The company gets all of its milk from family-owned small local dairy farms boasting anywhere from 11 to 50 cows.
Though we've been covering goat's milk cheeses for the past couple of weeks, today I'd like to concentrate on an American blue raw cow's milk cheese from northern Vermont called Boucher Blue.
This sweet and creamy fromage has an earthy flavor reminiscent of the famous French Fourme d'Ambert. What sets it slightly apart is a unique taste of chestnuts and vanilla and a long finish on the palate. While Boucher Blue is certainly tasty eaten plain, it would also make a great addition to a fresh spring salad, such as one with watercress, prosciutto and hazelnuts.
Boucher Blue is handmade by brothers Daniel and Denis of the renowned Québecois Boucher family, whose 1,000 acre farm boasts 120 Holstein and French Normandy cows. The brothers have deep roots in the region: Their family has been cultivating land for nearly 400 years. Long ago they tilled the land by the Lake Champlain and St. Lawrence River valleys in what was once New France (now Quebec). Their ancestor Pierre Boucher was celebrated after the French and Indian War for making peace with the Iroquois.
One of the classic food and wine pairings is Roquefort and Sauternes (French blue cheese made from sheep's milk and sweet botrytis wine, respectively), so it's no wonder the Canadians created their own pairing of blue cheese and icewine. Now Chef Jason Parsons at Peller Estates Winery Restaurant in Niagara has taken the pairing one step further: infusing blue cheese with icewine.
Essentially, Parsons takes a 4-lb wheel of Canadian Blue Cheese, a Blue Benedictine made at the Benoit Monastery in Quebec, scoops out a shot glass-sized chunk of cheese from the center, and fills it with Riesling icewine. The icewine is absorbed by the cheese through the natural blue cheese veins. Over a period of six weeks, the cheese absorbs 2 bottles of icewine.
The cheese is smoother, but not sweeter, and because its sugar content is so high from the icewine, it makes a killer brulee. Unfortunately, Peller Estates isn't shipping to the U.S., but if you're a cheese fanatic and you find yourself across the border, it might be worth seeking out.
But it's just a humble cheeseball, you say, why call it "the ball of shame?" Well, because shame is what you feel when, in mid-manufacture, you say you'll just take one swipe with a cracker to see how it tastes and wind up scarfing down a half-dozen. Shame is what you feel when you find yourself standing in front of the refrigerator at night, licking off the Saran wrap. However, pride is what you'll feel when you bring it to a party and watch people fall on it like starved hyenas.
The Auvergne region of France is full of lush green mountains as high as 7 thousand feet tall and the largest area of non-active volcanoes in Europe. It's the rich soil composed of minerals that contribute to the unique flavors of cheeses coming from the Auvergne. Persillé de Pont Astier is characteristic of this region. It's thick creamy and crumbly texture and its earthy spicy flavor is reminiscent of other blue cheeses from the Auvergne, such as Fourme d'Ambert and Bleu d'Auvergne. Neverthless, Persillé de Pont Astier stands out due to it's intriguing citrine paste and it's distinctive piquant taste Laiterie Antoine Garmy, located in the village of Pont Astier, handmakes Persillé de Pont Astier from the milk of cows grazing on lush pastures. The cheese is aged in natural caves, similar to those of the classic Roquefort. Since 1922, this dairy has been producing cheeses. Today, it also makes delicious yogurts, creams, and butter. If you're planning on traveling to France, I highly recommend taking a gastronomical excursion to the Auvergne and dining at Michel Bras.
Besides eating Persillé de Pont Astier plain, I suggest trying it on toasted whole wheat bread with a layer of dark honey. Chestnut honey may be too dark and bitter to pair with this cheese. However, I'd try it with a buckwheat honey. Suggestions on where to purchase this cheese can be found after the jump.
Shropshire Blue is the bright festive cousin of Stilton. Its bright orange color seems appropriate for the fall season, especially Halloween. It's essentially produced the same way as Stilton, except that annatto is added to the recipe making the interior orange. Shropshire Blue is even more luscious and creamy than Stilton.
The story of this cheese dates back to Scotland during the 1920s. Dennis Biggins, who actually made his living grading Cheshire cheese, created the first wheels of Shropshire Blue. Today, the cheese is produced in Nottinghamshire, England by Richard Rowlett and Billy Kevan at Colston Bassett Dairy. The cheese is aged for a minimum of 6 to 8 weeks.
Shropshire Blue pairs excellently with sliced pears, apples, and quince paste. If you're going to snack on this cheese with crackers, I suggest whole wheat crackers to balance out the striking pungency of the cheese. Similar to Stilton, it tastes exquisite with a glass of port. You can find this cheese at many different specialty food stores and cheese shops, namely Zabar's, Artisanal, Formaggio Kitchen, and Whole Foods. It sells for about $30 a pound at most stores.
Roquefort Vieux Berger has long been one of my favorite blue cheeses. The second you take a bite into this luscious blue, you taste a gritty sharp saltiness that mellows out and transforms into a sugary fruity flavor evoking the aroma of ripened dates, grapes, and apricots. The flavors are gorgeously well balanced and the texture is superbly thick and creamy. It's the best Roquefort that I have ever tasted, because it does not overwhelm the palate and leave an unpleasant strong aftertaste.
Like all Roqueforts, Vieux Berger is produced from raw sheep's milk. It's aged in damp caves found under the village of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon, in southwestern France. Perhaps, its uniqueness can be attributed to the fact that it's the Roquefort produced on the smallest scale. Its name seems to pay tribute to the enduring tradition of shepherds leading their sheep on the the Causses, vast plateaux found in the Aveyron, near the village of Roquefort. "Vieux Berger" means "old shepherd."
How should one savor this sweet succulent blue? Besides enjoying it plain à la française, you can eat it on whole grain toast with a variety of different condiments. My favorite condiment to pair with Roquefort Vieux Berger is chestnut spread. You can even taste it with a bold chestnut honey. A mirabelle jam will bring out the cheese's fruitiness and minimize its saltiness. Suggestions on how to purchase this cheese can be found after the jump.
Posted Jun 17th 2008 4:57PM by Max Shrem Filed under: Cheese
I'll admit that when I was a child, the thought of eating blue cheese made me squeamish. Everything from its blue and green color to its stinky aroma repelled me. Overall, I think I was most disgusted by its mold. It was not until I moved to France and lived with a French family that I fell head over heels for this delectable category of cheeses.
Yes. It's true that blue cheeses contain different strains of molds (usually Penicillium roqueforti), but this should hardly be off-putting when you consider the fact that all cheeses are made up of bacteria. I guarantee that you'll forget about the molds, the smell, and the bacteria after you try an assortment of blue cheeses. In fact, you'll start to love all those traits that turned you off from them in the first place.
I love the diversity of blue cheeses. While some are earthy, firm, and mildly spicy, others are creamy, sweet, and salty. I find it hard to understand when someone states that they do not like any blue cheeses. There are so many various styles of blue that I find it inconceivable that someone would not find at least one pleasing. Four of my absolute favorites can be found after the jump.
This last weekend, we had a party for my boyfriend's birthday. We bought lots of food for the festivities, and while the guests ate a good deal of it, there's more than three pounds of cheese in the fridge leftover from the assortment we put out on Saturday night. So I've got cheese on the brain, imagining all the delicious ways to use up this surfeit. So it makes perfect sense that this picture of a bowl of Buttermilk Bleu Cheese and Cauliflower Soup leaped out at me and asked to be featured (have I mentioned my deep and abiding love for cauliflower? Oh, and I have 1/2 a quart of buttermilk languishing in my fridge from a very tasty biscuit experiment).
The picture is actually a couple of years old (although that doesn't make it any less delicious-looking) and comes to us from the cheezemaster. You can find the recipe for the soup in the archives over at What We're Eating.
And as always, don't forget to come and join us over at the Slashfood Flickr Pool. All people and food pictures are welcome.
What would a collection of SuperBowl dip recipes be without a little blue cheese, considering that it is held to be the gold standard of hot wing dips - excluding hot wing sauce itself, of course. Blue cheese (or bleu cheese, if you prefer) dip is made with a pungent, creamy cheese that cuts into the spiciness of hot wings by adding a new layer of flavor and a cooling sensation that dulls the heat of the chicken. The strongly flavored cheese, in most of these dips, is often combined with sour cream, mayonnaise or cream cheese, each of which contributes to the overall texture of the dip without bumping up the flavor to the point where it overpowers the hot wing itself.
This particular dip is a pretty standard recipe that you'll probably find in several different places. It calls for sour cream and mayonnaise in addition to the cheese, so "healthy" is not something that could be applied. You can always substitute low fat or nonfat sour cream/mayonnaise; using a good quality blue cheese will make up for any loss of flavor in either of those ingredients.
Oregon is known for its smoked meats, fish, and cheddar cheeses. Now there is something new and smoky to add to the list. Rogue Creamery which has been making its Oregon Blue Vein cheese since 1956 has come out with a fantastic new cheese, Smokey Blue. This is a handmade cheese that is aged for six months to develop the delicious blue veins, then it is cold smoked for a full day over a mix of woods that include Oregon Hazelnut shells. After the smoking process, the cheese is further aged for a month to allow the smoke cure to spread throughout the cheese, mellowing out and balancing the bite of the blue. This is a sweet, creamy, slightly smoky, blue cheese that even people who normally don't like blue cheese really appreciate and enjoy. Rogue Smokey Blue has such an interesting depth of flavor that you can make a fantastic and elegant dip for vegetables by whipping it with heavy cream, or put a nice pat on a grilled burger or steak to take your seared and smoky beef up to a whole new level of gustatory revelry.
Though we've been covering 
But it's just a humble cheeseball, you say, why call it "the ball of shame?" Well, because shame is what you feel when, in mid-manufacture, you say you'll just take one swipe with a cracker to see how it tastes and wind up scarfing down a half-dozen. Shame is what you feel when you find yourself standing in front of the refrigerator at night, licking off the Saran wrap. However, pride is what you'll feel when you bring it to a party and watch people fall on it like starved hyenas.
Oregon is known for its smoked meats, fish, and cheddar cheeses. Now there is something new and smoky to add to the list. Rogue Creamery which has been making its Oregon Blue Vein cheese since 1956 has come out with a fantastic new cheese, Smokey Blue. This is a handmade cheese that is aged for six months to develop the delicious blue veins, then it is cold smoked for a full day over a mix of woods that include Oregon Hazelnut shells. After the smoking process, the cheese is further aged for a month to allow the smoke cure to spread throughout the cheese, mellowing out and balancing the bite of the blue. This is a sweet, creamy, slightly smoky, blue cheese that even people who normally don't like blue cheese really appreciate and enjoy. Rogue Smokey Blue has such an interesting depth of flavor that you can make a fantastic and elegant dip for vegetables by whipping it with heavy cream, or put a nice pat on a grilled burger or steak to take your seared and smoky beef up to a whole new level of gustatory revelry.
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