Happy National Dairy Month!
I’ll use just about any excuse to eat more cheese, especially blue cheese.
Blue-veined cheeses get their wonderful marbled appearance and combination of creamy, salty and tangy flavors from penicillin molds. This happens either naturally, in caves where they’ve been prepared for centuries, or artificially, in factories where manufacturers deliberately introduce the cultures.
Almost everybody who enjoys good food knows all about Europe’s great blues. There’s French Roquefort, a sheep’s-milk cheese with a rich, sharp taste and creamy consistency; Gorgonzola, an almost spicy Italian cow’s-milk cheese that’s soft and creamy when young, crumbly when aged; Danish blue, enjoyed for its milder flavor and semisoft consistency; and English Stilton, a rich, creamy blue with a sharp, complex flavor. This list doesn’t include dozens of others.
Excellent blue cheeses are now being made on this side of the Atlantic too. Our claims to blue cheese fame began with Iowa’s Maytag Dairy Farms and its creamy, tangy, almost citrusy Maytag Blue. Our growing interest in artisanal foods has seen the rise of other great products like full-flavored, tart Point Reyes Original Blue from northern California; creamy Great Hill Blue from Massachusetts; and Rogue Creamery’s Oregon Blue, a Roquefort-style cheese that’s cold-smoked with hazelnut shells.
You can buy all these cheeses online. I suggest, however, that you look, instead, for a good local cheese shop that will let you sample their products. I prefer blues that don’t taste too salty, although some salt is inevitable because it’s a natural preservative. But it’s all a matter of personal taste.
Once you get the blue cheese home, the fun begins. I like it smeared on a grilled steak or burger, crumbled in a creamy pasta sauce or nibbled after a meal with pears or apples, nuts and a glass of Sauternes or other sweet wine.
One of my favorite recipes for blue cheese, though, is in a salad with spinach, apples and spicy caramelized pecans. I love the contrast of the sharp-tasting, creamy, salty cheese with the crispy, sweet fruit, the astringent-tasting spinach and the earthy-sweet-spicy nuts.
Or just make my spicy caramelized pecans on their own and eat them with blue cheese after your meal.
Spinach and blue cheese salad with apples and caramelized pecans
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
*The dressing makes about 1 cup, but the salad will only use 1/3 cup. The remainder can be saved in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.
1 apple, seeded, cored, sliced thinly
Juice of 1 small lemon
1/2 package (16 ounces) baby spinach leaves
1 small head radicchio, trimmed, cut crosswise into narrow ribbons
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
Dressing:
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon each: sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard
1 small shallot, minced
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup walnut oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
1 cup spiced caramelized pecans, see recipe
1. Place apple slices in a salad bowl, sprinkle with the lemon juice; toss gently to coat. Add the spinach, radicchio and blue cheese; season with the salt and pepper.
2. For the dressing, whisk together the vinegars and mustard in a medium bowl; add shallot and thyme. Whisking continuously, drizzle in the oils to form a smooth, thick emulsion. Season with the salt and pepper. Add 1/3 cup of the dressing to the salad bowl; toss gently to coat all the ingredients. Taste; adjust the seasonings if necessary. Divide the salad among 4 plates; scatter the pecans over each salad.
Nutrition information per serving:
374 calories, 72% of calories from fat, 30 g fat, 6 g saturated fat, 13 mg cholesterol, 22 g carbohydrates, 8 g protein, 974 mg sodium, 4 g fiber
Spiced caramelized pecans
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 7 minutes
Yield: 8 servings, about 1 cup
1 1/2 cups peanut oil or vegetable oil
1 quart water
1 cup pecan halves
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1. Heat the oil to 350 degrees in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, heat the water to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.
2. Add the pecans to the water. Boil 2 minutes; drain in a strainer, shaking off all excess water. Holding the strainer over a plate, sprinkle the salt and red pepper over the nuts. Sprinkle the confectioners’ sugar over them slowly, allowing the sugar to melt into the pecans. Toss the nuts by shaking the strainer, adding a little more sugar each time until all the sugar is used and the nuts are coated. (Do not use your hands or a spoon to toss them, or you’ll interfere with the even glaze.)
3. Carefully add the glazed nuts to the hot oil, adjusting the heat if necessary to maintain the 350-degree temperature. Cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Remove the nuts with a slotted spoon to a baking tray to cool completely. Store in an airtight container until ready to use.
Nutrition information per serving:
123 calories, 67% of calories from fat, 10 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 9 g carbohydrates, 1 g protein, 291 mg sodium, 1 g fiber
