Few recipe ingredients deliver as much bang for the bite as a rich wedge of blue cheese. Because of its unique mold and make, blue cheese carries a full spectrum of flavors—salty, creamy, umami, tangy, and earthy—that cooks can employ all at once in a wide range of spicy and savory dishes. There are tried-and-true classics, such as hot, peppery Buffalo chicken wings with a cool blue cheese dip, which we feature here. And we’re pleased to introduce inspired newcomers to the plate, such as mini tarts composed of tricolored beets, walnuts, and blue cheese. Still more culinary uses for blue cheese fall somewhere between the familiar and the newfangled: on a towering open-face roast beef sandwich, layered between sweet peppers and crispy onions; crumbled atop a warm salad of arugula and sweet potato-parsnip pancakes; and blended into melt-in-your-mouth fig and cheese shortbread.
In all of these recipes we recommend using a good-quality domestic brand of mild blue cheese—nothing too precious or pricey, but one that’s a bit creamier than generic industrial blue cheese crumbles and wedges. If you prefer a bolder blue, go for it. Either way, the robust combination of flavors and textures is sure to please autumn appetites.
These gem-colored Beet, Walnut, and Blue Cheese Tarts topped with slices of ruby, golden, and pink chioggia beets are a cinch to make.
This robust Arugula Salad with Sweet Potato-Parsnip Pancakes, Chives, and Blue Cheese course marries salty and sweet, as well as spicy and tangy, with an ideal mix of textures.
Lightly sweet and delicately savory, these cheesy, buttery Blue Cheese and Fig Shortbread are as good with a cup of tea or coffee in the afternoon as they are with a glass of sherry or wine in the evening.
This hearty Open-Face Beef and Blue Cheese Sandwich with Crispy Onion Topping contains a generous smear of horseradish-infused mayonnaise and layers of beef, blue cheese, and sweet peppers; crispy onions add the crowning touch.
Not just for football season, Baked Buffalo Chicken Wings with Blue Cheese Dip gets a health-minded makeover by forgoing the fryer and substituting yogurt for sour cream in the dip.
Elaine Khosrova
Elaine Khorova is the original Editor-in-Chief of culture magazine and the current recipe writer extraordinaire. She resides in the Hudson Valley of New York where she is working on a book about the history of butter.
Stylist Eugene Jho
Eugene Jho is a food stylist based in New York City. You can view his work at www.eugenejho.com
Photographer Jeremy Merriam
Jeremy Merriam's early artistic influences stem from watching Bob Ross, Saturday morning cartoons, comic books, and his fascination drawing dinosaurs. It was years later that he decided to further shape his artistic side by becoming a professional photographer. His interest in photography has been a constant evolution, and is a medium that continues to surprise him. He developed a strong interest in food and food related photography inspired by his love of cooking, which led Jeremy to explore food as a subject.
