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| Beyond dips and crumbled over salads, there are endless and tasty things to do with great blue cheese. Photo by Melody Lan | THE NIBBLE. |
| WHAT IT IS: A creamy, melt-in-your-mouth farmstead blue cheese from Marin County, California. |
| WHY IT’S DIFFERENT: An exceptional-quality cheese that has full, rich blue flavor without any of the sharpness that drives some people away from blue cheeses. |
| WHY WE LOVE IT: It dazzles the palate, whether in savory company with other cheeses, nuts and olives, or as a sweet dessert with peaches, pears and a glass of Sauternes or Port. |
| PURCHASE AT: PointReyesCheese.com |
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Point Reyes Original Blue:
Page 3: Blue Cheese Serving Suggestions
This is Page 3 of a seven-page review. Click on the black links below to visit other pages.
INDEX OF REVIEW
MORE TO DISCOVER
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Blue Cheese Serving Suggestions
Traditional blue cheeses are crumbly by nature and it is difficult to get a clean slice with even the sharpest knife. Experts use a wire or a taut piece of dental floss to make a clean cut through the cheese. While Original Blue is creamier and therefore easier to slice cleanly, if you eat blues regularly, you may wish to purchase a wire—they’re inexpensive, and we’ve included a selection at the end of this review.
- Blue cheese is assertive so it combines well with bland foods like pasta and polenta, as well as with rich foods like beef.
- Always use good quality blue cheese when cooking: the flavors become stronger when the cheese is heated, so any sharpness or bitterness will be accentuated.
- The cheese will melt into puddles under high heat, so add it near the end of baking, or remove the pan from the heat before stirring in the cheese. Alternatively, reserve part of the cheese to sprinkle on at the end so you’ll have attractive bits of blue cheese showing.
- When serving in an uncooked dish—a sandwich, salad or cheese plate, e.g.—always have the cheese at room temperature so the complex flavors fully present themselves.
Here are just a few ways we enjoy Original Blue:
Appetizers & Hors D’Oeuvres
- With prosciutto-wrapped figs—place a piece of cheese on the fig half before you wrap it in prosciutto (you can serve them “cru” or grilled and drizzled with olive oil—grill for about 2 minutes on each side until the prosciutto starts to crisp)
- Mashed and stuffed into celery stalks—a 1950s concept that’s back in style (if you want a 21st century adaptation, stuff fennel leaves for an hors d’oeuvre or an amuse bouche)
- On crostini
Salads
- In a blue cheese dressing (there’s a fine recipe on the company website)
- Crumbled in a frisée salad with lardons and walnuts, or a sweet version with thin red pear slices and candied walnuts
- Sprinkled atop a roasted beet salad
- On a Caesar salad—prepare as usual with Parmesan and crumble some Original Blue on top for a second dimension of cheese flavor
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Try Original Blue with Graham’s
Six Grapes, a ruby Port from the
same vineyards as the Vintage Port.
Very full-bodied but not as heavy as
vintage, it’s a sweet, luscious wine
to enjoy for dessert with blue and
other cheeses. It’s less than $20
a bottle, and an open bottle will
keep in the refrigerator for weeks.
It’s readily available at wine stores
or at Wine.com. Dow’s LBV and
Quinta da Senhora da Ribeira are
also stunning pairings.
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Lunch & Dinner
- On top of a burger, or in a stuffed burger
- On a pizza crust with a ricotta topping, roasted red peppers and fresh basil and rosemary
- As a grilled cheese sandwich on raisin, walnut, walnut-currant or semolina bread (first toast the bread, then top with crumbled cheese and grill until it starts to melt)
- As a garnish for any type of steak—add a small wedge to the plate (we use a large beefsteak tomato slice as the base and position the cheese on top of it with a basil leaf or two)
Plus...
- As part of a cheese plate
- For dessert with a glass of Port, Sauternes or other full-bodied dessert wine
- As a snack with some kalamata olives, nuts (we favor walnuts and almonds), fresh or dried fruits, a drizzle of lavender honey and/or some slices of crusty baguette
- To paraphrase Emily Dickinson, the Original Blue alone will do if accompaniments are few
Continue To Page 4: Great Recipes
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