Blue cheese is prized for its pungent, sharp flavor and is served alone, in salads or on top of hot meat such as steak right off the grill. Cheese made from cow, sheep or goat's milk can all be made into blue cheese. The specks of blue color in blue cheese is actually a mold called Penicillum roqueforti, which develops after a specific ripening process. The mold also gives blue cheese its sharp flavor and odor. Blue cheese can be hard and crumbly, or soft and creamy. Blue cheese can be melted to make a sauce or cream or melted on top of meat.
Blue cheese sauce
Melt the butter in a sauce pan over medium heat and add chopped shallots if you prefer until they are soft.
Stir in the blue cheese crumbles, mashing with a fork into the butter until a paste forms.
Stir in the heavy cream and heat the mixture until just before it begins to boil.
Stir in the freshly ground black pepper and serve immediately.
Blue Cheese Butter
Combine the blue cheese and softened butter in a bowl.
Add the minced garlic and season to taste with salt and pepper. You may also add the minced shallot and chopped fresh parsley if that is your preference.
Slather the blue cheese butter mixture over hot steaks and serve.
Tip
Gorgonzola or Cabreles blue cheese are ideal for melting purposes.
References
Writer Bio
Based in Los Angeles, Zora Hughes has been writing travel, parenting, cooking and relationship articles since 2010. Her work includes writing city profiles for Groupon. She also writes screenplays and won the S. Randolph Playwriting Award in 2004. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in television writing/producing and a Master of Arts Management in entertainment media management, both from Columbia College.