What to do with blue cheese?

[gray]

I have a pretty good hunk of Pt. Reyes blue cheese left from a cheese plate. Want to do something different with it than just toss on a salad or with bread. Although that is not bad either.

[foxy fairy]

I remembered another favorite blue cheese recipe. I bread and bake eggplant rounds sliced very thinly. I like them very crispy.

Meanwhile I sautee some onions and mushrooms together, then add lemon juice, then yogurt, and at the last minute stir in some good blue cheese. Mmmm. Oh, fresh dill too. This is zingy and delicious and a great twist on classic eggplant sauces. It's from Mollie Katzen's Still Life with Menu, which is a great cookbook!

[4chowpups]

Sounds like your blue cheese was too good to put into this recipe but what about the one in the recipes section of CHOWHOUND for blue cheese coleslaw with buffalo tenders? I haven't made this yet but the recipe sounded great!!

[doogette]

BlueCheese pork tenderloin

Sear off a pork tenderloin
Grill it till medium rare.
Cut a slit down the middle Stuff it with the blue cheese of your choice
Foil the pork.
Finish for 5 more minutes on the grill.

This assumes your guests haven't scarfed the blue cheese on rosemary crackers waiting for the grill master to finish his magic.

[Amanda please]

Make burgers with it. Stick a piece in the middle covering it with meat. Then grill it up! Serve with red onion on top and a big piece of lettuce.

[katerina]

Spread a little on a toasted baquett (sp) and drizzle with a little honey...so easy, so good!

[foxy fairy]

I can't believe I didn't think of this the first time - one of my favorite ways to swirl in fancy cheese: phyllo dough creations. You can do little triangles (spanakopita style) and I think you could make a fantastic filling by crumbling in some blue cheese with cream cheese and lots of sauteed leeks and some fresh herbs (dill is great) and lemon zest. I like to add in lots of fresh lemon juice too for great zing.

You can do one giant "log" or strudel, and serve it as a main dish, or make lots of little appetizers. If you've never worked with phyllo, don't be bashful -- it's actually really fun and everyone always oooos and ahhhhs that you pulled it off!
A couple of tips-- prepare a slightly damp kitchen towel *before* you start with the phyllo. The dough is fragile and dries quickly. After you unwrap the sheets, leave them in a stack (you'll just take out one at a time to brush with melted butter) and protect the stack of waiting sheets by covering with the damp towel. When you're done, *immediately* wrap up the unused phyllo and seal it tightly and use it up in the next few days.

[blue room]

Open faced sandwich-- cream together half cheese, half butter, spread on bread rounds. Top with thinly sliced radishes.

Scalloped potatoes, as well as the mashed mentioned before. Add crumbled blue and mushrooms.

[xnyorkr]

A few months back, Rachael Ray made a blue cheese pasta dish that sounded good. I saw it on her web site. It was part of her "dinner for a man."

[chef chicklet]

Blue cheese and onion tart
My recipe for dressing is a hunk of blue cheese,reserve some pieces to top salad with. Mash with a fork then add mayonaise, mix well should have chunks still but creamed, add milk to thin out, tobascco drops as much as you like, worsteshire sauce about a tablespoon mix well and add a little more milk then a tsp of white pepper. The dressing
should not be runny but a nice thick gloppiness to it. Toss with lettuce of choice coating the leaves well, top with sliced tomato and a few grinds of sea salt, and lots of cracked pepper.

[MplsM ary]

I love beets with blue cheese. I'm happily surprised FTV still has the recipe from the show Melting Pot on their website. I've used this recipe but I substitute mache lettuce for watercress:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recip...

[foxy fairy]

Beets with blue cheese are so delicious! I brought my version of this to Thanksgiving dinner, converting non-beet-eating friends to beet advocates! I add toasted walnuts to mine and I dress with whatever fresh citrus I have on hand - I especially like to squeeze in some fresh grapefruit juice. I'd always thought of this as more of a fall/winter dish, but why not serve it now? Good idea.

[Hapa Dude]

I've made a similar dish but drizzled balsamic vinegar over the beets et al. instead of citrus juice. i'll have to try the juice next time. Also, I add thinly sliced sweet onions too. My non-beet friends enjoyed this too. It's always great when you can open up other people's eyes, i mean palettes.

[NeNePie]

Don't forget the classic salad with blue cheese, walnuts and apples. Pear vinaigrette works beautifully on this (you can cheat with the juice from canned pears in a mild vinaigrette, or use pear vinegar).

[coombe]

Make a plain white risotto with good chicken stock. When cooked add cream and the melted blue cheese.

[Louise]

You could make homemade crackers subbing the cheese for some of the butter.

I bet shortbread would be good like that too.

[Kaisgraham]

I tried this recipe recently and loved it. Hope you do, too.
BLUE CHEESE ONIONS

Large yellow onions
Olive oil
Kosher salt and fresh pepper
Equal amounts of seasoned Panko bread crumbs and blue cheese (any kind)
Balsamic vinegar

Soak wooden skewers for one hour before preparing.
Cut yellow onions into very thick slices and put thru skewers.
Baste with olive oil. Sprinkle on salt and pepper. Let set for awhile at room temp.
Place directly on grill, cover lightly with foil, and cook until completely cooked thru about 30 minutes or so. Turn over once and baste with any leftover olive oil. Baste with balsamic vinegar after turning over toward the end of cooking.

Lightly brown the breadcrumbs in a skillet. Remove to bowl and add blue cheese. Cool slightly. Transfer cooked onions to a foil pan. Top the onions with the blue cheese mixture and press down firmly. Again, lightly cover with foil and cook until cheese melts. Serve immediately.

OR

Cook onions as above. Instead of putting cheese mixture over onions, put it on top of steak (trip tip?) and let melt directly into the steak at the end of cooking.

[julseydesign]

I do love a burger with bacon and blue cheese, i must admit.

However, last night i braised some chicken thighs in white wine, chicken broth, onion, and garlic. I strained the broth, reduced it, and stirred in blue cheese. It was a great sauce. I served it with some roasted potatoes. It was creamy and tangy, but not so overly heavy as an actual cream sauce.

[heatherkay]

I make a dip with one small container of non-fat cottage cheese, 1 oz of blue cheese, 1 cup of fresh basil leaves, and a close of garlic. Mix in food processor until smooth. Salt to taste. People will lick the bowl.

Good on crackers, toasts, veggies. Excellent on sandwiches.

[foxy fairy]

Similar to the bruschetta above: how about baby pizzettas, each with a crumble of your snazzy blue, a grape tomato, a snip of basil? YUM. I love high-quality blue cheese on any homemade pizza.

Flay does a really cool grilled potato salad with watercress and a blue cheese-shallot vinaigrette. I know you said no salads, but this one is truly special.

[daily_unadventures]

I like this idea too, I made a little flatbread with sauteed pepper and onions topped with blue cheese a few weeks ago and it made a great appetizer. Thinly slice an onion and a red and yellow\orange pepper. Saute them with a little olive oil until tender. Liberally drizzle a homemade pizza shell with olive oil and cover in the peppers and onions. Top with crumbled blue cheese and bake. Super good, my friend asked me how I had done it later... I got the idea from the Bread Bible by the way.

Katerina
http://dailyunadventures.com

[doll8parts]

looks like you've already had some great replies. i second the hamburger notion, although i would mix it with butter first before you add it to the middle of your burgers. just using the cheese can dry out the meat.

if you are looking for entertaining ideas, i made a fantastic bruschetta using some gorgonzola. you could do just the same with your pt. reyes blue cheese. roast up some red and yellow bell pepper (olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic), slice up some french baguette (you could do sourdough too), splash with some olive oil, toast off in a 350 degree oven for 5-8 minutes, top with slices of blue cheese and pepper mix, then back into the oven for another 2-3 minutes til the cheese just begins to melt. top with julienned basil for a beautiful pop of color. voila! you're ready to impress at your next party.

have fun :)

[Densible]

That sounds utterly fantastic! I am bringing it to a bbq this weekend.

[doll8parts]

I know and it's so easy too right?? You can take all the credit I don't mind!! :))

[Densible]

hehe!

Everyone will think I am a genius. Also bringing a flag cake, which I will have to credit to Martha and Ina. They are too famous.

[sbp]

Buffalo Guacamole. Mashed avocadoes, crumbled blue cheese, diced onions, minced hot peppers, a little Frank's Hot sauce. Though maybe not the best use for a really good quality blue like your Pt. Reyes.

[Louise]

That's a great idea, I would never have thought of mixing the two. Hmm, a new idea to go in the recipe notebook.

[daily_unadventures]

I actually made something similar to this which was featured on the food network. Basically a salad with romaine lettuce pan fried chicken, blue cheese and franks red hot mixed with melted butter and ketchup. It was a hit.

http://dailyunadventures.blogspot.com/2007/05/buffalo-chicken-salad.html

Katerina
http://dailyunadventures.com

[Candy]

Melted into heavy cream and made into a sauce for gnocchi is just decadent.

[cafecreme]

that's one of my standards--especially good with some shallots, and a little sage over some butternut squash or pumpkin ravioli.

[ohromujici]

To totally agree with Candy's recommendation. I do the same thing with it--melt it in cream and put it over gnocci.

[redgypsy]

It's a fantastic pasta sauce like PP have said. Sautee some shallots first then add some chopped sage, flour for a quick roux, then heavy cream and cheese. Yummy. I've then topped the pasta with some crumbled bacon and arugula.

[ElissaInPlaya]

Yes! add walnuts to this pasta sauce and it will be orgasmic.

I also really like blue cheese crumbled in a baby lettuce salad with chopped tomatoes, walnuts and balsamic vinnaigrette (sp?).

[Glencora]

Crumbled with pears and a little broth it's great on pasta.

[sweetTooth]

Lately, I've used blue cheese in soups (cream of zucchini, zucchini and oldish asparagus) and in a bechamel for a gratin. It worked well, I thought.

[Sam Fujisaka]

A tweak on mojoeater: put the cheese in the middle of a burger paddy.

[scubadoo97]

Yes a very good use. You can make a blue cheese fondue.

[OrganicLife]

Blue Cheese Mashed Potatoes!!! Totally delicious. Just make mashed potatoes as you usually would and then crumble the blue cheese in and mix with a mixer for a few minutes to let the cheese melt in. (Also delicious with brie or gorgonzola)

[debbiel]

I second the blue cheese mashed potatoes idea. Very, very good.

Roasted pears and blue cheese is great (last year my partner had this with Irish bacon for breakfast on vacation--great).

If it were me, I would likely just eat the blue cheese as is. I love the stuff!

[AbdulSheikhMohammed]

Roasted pears and blue cheese... yes, yes!

I like to eat it with dates and some white wine. Roquefort in particular...

I've also made some blue cheese sauces for steaks, and it's good crumbled on burgers... especially with some bacon.

[starlady]

Figs are really good with Blue cheese too.
Stuff a fig with blue nad wrap with bacon, grill until crisp!

[tuxedo]

I make all my burgers this way -

[pikawicca]

Equal amounts (by volume) of blue cheese, sour cream, mayo. and a squeeze of lemon juice all whirred up in the food processor make a great salad dressing/dip, which will keep in the fridge for about a week.

[mojoeater]

Blue cheese is great with red meat. Some folks like to make a blue cheese butter. I like to mix horseradish, fresh ground pepper, sour cream and blue cheese. Nuke a couple minutes until the cheese melts. Makes a great topping for burgers, steaks, and roast beef.