Ok, as promised, I'm going to give you the recipe for the best blue cheese dressing you'll ever have.
Like most good recipes, this one is simple. There are only 5 main ingredients. Here's what it looked like as I was getting ready to start:
Just to run it down, that's sour cream (2 pints), blue cheese (2 8oz tubs), mayo, olive oil, and buttermilk.
That, and a little garlic powder and pepper, and you've got heaven in a bowl.
Ok, step one:
Mix equal parts sour cream and mayo in your bowl of choice:
Now, technically, that's 32 ounces of sour cream, and 30 ounces of mayo, but you get the idea. A word on mayo: For my average day to day sandwich needs, I buy whatever store brand is on sale. When I make dressing, I sport the extra cost and buy Best Foods, because, well, it's the....best.
Ok, so. Mix the sour cream and mayo until they're smooth and creamy.
Add some olive oil:
I wish I had a hard and fast amount to tell you, but as you know, most real chefs never use a recipe. You can get an idea from the photo. The olive oil is mostly for emulsification, so the amount is not critical, and you can always add more if you need to.
So, again, mix until the oil is fully incorporated.
Now comes the buttermilk:
Start with one cup. This is mostly for thinning the dressing down, and if needed, you can always add more. Most times, you will want to add a little after refrigerating overnight.
In any event, add the buttermilk, and again stir until smooth. I suppose technically you could add the buttermilk and oil at the beginning, and only go through the 'stir til creamy' step once, but I like to do it in stages.
A word about Bleu Cheese: The tubs you see are from Trader Joe's. The reason I use theirs is simple: Cost. If you look at your local store, you'll find 4oz for prolly 3.50 or so. Those eight ounce tubs are 3.49 at TJ's, so like half the price.
Time for a little seasoning:
That's black pepper and garlic powder. Again, I wish I had an amount to give you, but it's pretty much a 'to taste' thing. You could also add a little salt at this point, but it's usually not needed.
Again, mix until smooth. At that point, I add the cheese all at once, and gently fold/stir until the cheese is fully incorporated. Once you're done with this stage, your basically done:
In order to let the flavors fully marry, an overnight stay in the fridge works wonders. If your dressing seems too thick at that point, now's the time for a little more olive oil or buttermilk. Add either (or both) a little at a time until you get the consistency you want.
For storage, I spoon it into wide mouth mason jars.
Share and enjoy:
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go eat.
Buenos con (azul) queso,
T.
