don't want to become a bleu cheese snob

Ron,

Gorgonzola, Stilton, Daniish blue, roquefort. My favourite is Fourme d'Ambert. It is an expensve habit and the cheese has to be paired with a good quality wine or port. Like wine the cheeses vary with age.

Steve

Hoss,

Trust me on this. Sometime you need to do a prime rib, just rubbed with salt and pepper with mashed potatoes, fresh peas, Yorkskshire pudding and jus. Buy a really good Warres or Taylor Fladgate port and serve after dinner with old Stilton and grapes and a Cuban cigar.

Steve

Try Valdeon, you will not be disappointed. We get ours at whole foods and put it on lots of stuff but my favorite is mussels with a broth of white wine, shallots, red peppers, pancetta, and Valdeon. It is our go to appetizer on the egg.

Ron: Maytag is my favorite, made in Iowa.
Check out thier website there is some neat history of the brand. Started by the son of the appliance Maytag's.
There is plenty of imported thats great, next time your in Chicago try to go to Fox and Obel market on Illinois st. near Navy Pier.
Best meat, cheese, or any food product availble on earth is on thier shelves.

http://www.maytagdairyfarms.com/aspx/welcome.aspx

oh.... please ..... try the "maytag" brand of bleu cheese.... i may be a neophyte... but it's my favorite! do a search... i buy mine at " sam's club" .... it sells out quickly! .. i just order direct from the factory.... rr

And mix 25% of ground lamb with 75% of 83% lean ground beef

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Maytag is my fave for blue that is easy to get in Peoria.

My husband [the fussy eater] never would have touched blue cheese until he had a blue cheese crusted filet at a banquet. Now a couple of our local stores carry blue cheese hamburgers and he loves them.

what you need to do is some taste testing. i like these but they are at the higher end of my budget and i stick with tawney porto, not sure but i think little steven likes the vintage style ports, more fruity and vibrant but pricey. the buety of port is that its fortified with brandy and after opening a tawny or regular porto you can drink just a little from the bottle for weeks before it goes bad so you can have several open at a time. been starting with a two finger sifter of something good, then a sifter or two of something cheaper in the ten dollar range, im fond of sandeman and love the 20 year old but its too pricey for me, these ather two are good too, the warres otima has a little after burn but is very good, the fladgate has more of a fruity taste, but still good. get a good bottle of tawny and regular port and see which direction you like best

these are good



some testing :laugh:

i think i like all the blue cheeses :laugh: something ive noticed is different packages change the cheese. cabot sharp in the supermarket is plastic wrapped, almost rubberry, sometimes they package in waxed paper on the shelves, much better texture and flavor, the old country store near me sells chips from the big old wheel under the glass top, flavor of that is outstanding... all these are the same cheese swiss to me is never my chouce, i cant taste anything from it, maybe its because i like and expect the stronger flavors

I discovered Maytag blue cheese through a TV chef quite a few years ago. It was rarely available locally back then so I ordered from the source. It was my absolute favorite Blue Cheese. Now it’s almost always available locally at the better stores but I’ve had several bad experiences with it. Either it didn’t taste very good or it had little taste at all. I was very disappointed especially since it is not cheap. I wonder if it is a shipping/storage problem. Maybe I need to order from the source again.

Other good excuse to use blue cheese is for cole slaw. It is something that is really easy to make and everyone always raves about it. I either buy slaw in a bag or cut up
my own cabbage depending on how much time I have. Then I mix marzettis slaw dressing from the no preservative isle. Lastly I mix some crumbled blue cheese to taste. This recipe goes really well with pulled pork. I know several people that would not eat slaw but wanted the recipe after trying it.

i got a whole wheel of matag, at resaurant depot, at christmas. it was very good but too much for just me.. great way to make friends.
my favorite is saga [which is basically brie cheese with blue veins and probably not a true bleu] i think it is 105% butterfat. :laugh:

No, I haven't. I wouldn't have a clue, but I'd like to learn.

Maytag and Point Reyes - 'nuff said...