If you’re a dairy slut like me, the more things you can make with cheese, the better. However my least favorite cheeses are of the blue moldy variety but Johnathan always eats those first on a cheese plate. I do appreciate blue cheeses incorporated into dishes, and here are 3 of my favorites. All of these could come from about one container - pre crumbled (which I like) serving 2 people.

My Dad’s homemade Blue Cheese Dressing (AMAZING on wings!)

- 2/3 cup Mayo (using regular, not lite is best)

- 1/2 cup Sour Cream

- 1/3 cup blue cheese

- 1 tbs lemon juice

- couple dashes of worcestershire

- salt & pepper

* Combine all ingredients and adjust to your taste

Jamie Oliver’s Cheese and Onion Salad w/ Creamy Herb Dressing (great winter salad)

- Mixed salad greens (for as many servings as you need)

- Blue Cheese crumbles

- handful of walnuts - toasted if you want

- 4-5 small shallots peeled and finely sliced.

For Dressing:

- Extra Virgin Olive Oil

- 2 tbs creme fraiche

- 1 tbs red wine vinegar

1. Place shallots in a small bowl with a generous pinch of salt and pour over just enough white wine vinegar (I used red) to cover. Let the onions pickle for about 10 minutes and squeeze out excess vinegar when you’re ready to dress the salad.

2. For the dressing: combine 4 tablespoons of olive oil with the creme fraiche and vinegar. Whisk together and season to taste

3. Combine your salad, blue cheese, shallots, walnuts and dressing.

Oozy Blue Cheese (or Gorgonzola) sauce - great with gnocchi or homemade pasta, very simple and rich.

Proportions: 1 part whipping cream to 3 parts cheese.

1. Bring whipping cream to a simmer. Turn heat down and add cheese and whisk until melted. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Tip: adding walnuts to this adds a great bite and sweetness to pasta!

I made this pizza based on this month’s Bon Appetit cheese article. An article about cheese you say? Yes, it’s incredible and if you even just like cheese you should get this issue! I didn’t use their dough recipe, I like my stand by and used the fresh oregano from the Jamie Oliver chicken dish and added it to the dough. One thing I tried that was different was I rolled out the dough to the pizza size, covered it, and let it sit for another 10 minutes - I think this really made the crust light and fluffy instead of cardboard like. I also did the cider fondue recipe in the article and used the other half of kielbasa from that for the pizza, another hit if you’re not serving vegetarians. Definitely an impressive movie night meal thats better than anything from Domino’s. Oh, and use the premade crusts to make this even faster.

We had a full house last night for dinner and results watching. My favorite person, Adrienne made some awesome donkey cookies to celebrate. There was much champagne and cheesy pasta - plenty for 6 people. This is an easy dish for a night like this - comfy celebratory food you can eat while watching the tube for electoral results. My mom has made this recipe for years and everytime it tastes better and better. The blue cheese is great - even if you’re not a fan, don’t leave it out - it’s not super strong but balances the saltiness nicely. Here’s how to make it:

Serves 6

1/2 stick unsalted butter

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups milk (try to use whole, but skim works also)

28 oz can of whole Italian tomatoes, drained, reserving 1 1/4 cup juice, chopped fine

1 lb bow-tie pasta

1 1/2 cups coarsely grated mozzarella cheese (about 6oz)

1/2 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese (about 2 oz)

1/2 cup diced Italian Fontina cheese (about 2 oz)
1 1/3 cup freshly grated Romano cheese (about 4 oz)

1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley leaves

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Butter a 3-4 quart gratin dish or a 13×9 baking dish

2. In a heavy saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add flour and cook roux, whisking, 3 minutes. Add milk and reserved tomato juice in a stream, whisking, and bring to a boil, whisking. Stir in tomatoes and salt and pepper to taste and simmer until thickened, about 3 minutes.

3. In a large pot bring salted water to a boil and cook pasta according to package directions, until just al dente.

4. In a bowl stir together pasta, sauce, mozzarella, Gorgonzola, Fontina, 1 cup Romano, and parsley and transfer to prepared dish. Sprinkle pasta with remaining 1/3 cup Romano. Bake bow ties in middle of oven 30-35 minutes, or until golden and bubbling, let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Winning Donkey Cookies

This is what happens when you’re in a rush to eat - a blurry picture… but I think you get the idea. This was a request from my mom for me to make before I head back up to NYC. This is also one of Johnathan’s favorites, and we usually finish a serving for 4 between the 3 of us - we do try to have another person for dinner for this event. We saw this on Jamie at Home on the Food Network, and have probably made it half a dozen times. This isn’t exactly a cheap meal on its own - fontina and creme fraiche can be pricey - but try it at least once, and you’ll probably go back to it again and again. I used my pasta recipe and pasta machine for the tagliatelle, and here’s the link to Jamie’s recipe. Enjoy… again… and again….

I loved this dish, because I hate cauliflower. I know it’s good for you, but I’ve never taken a shine to the cabbage. But, I figured baked and smothered with cheese and tomatoes, couldn’t be too bad. And I was right. This is a great hearty vegetarian dish, and I definitely recommend getting those heirloom tomatoes for this before they go out of season. It’s a great sweet compliment. I would also not put as many green onions as the recipe calls for - it made a bit too much oniony flavor for me and was a bit overpowering. But this makes a lot, and is going to be great reheated for a couple more meals, probably better than the first time. I also used some Whole Foods bread crumbs I had in the pantry rather than make my own. Make this on a Sunday afternoon, and enjoy for lunch all week. I’ll also be doing a special post tomorrow about my Greenmarket and pasta making class from Astor Center. I can’t wait!