Over the next week, we're going to post the makings of an amazing sandwich which we highly recommend. It requires three interchangeable parts, all three dead easy to make. The first is a recipe I collected from Linda when I visited last September. She nonchalantly pulled it out of the fridge one night for dinner and I pretty much put my face in the bowl. See, I'm not proud!
We have tried not to make it too often because because it's not healthy having it lure you to the fridge at all hours of the day, and it doesn't help that it's good on everything, including breakfast cereal.
I'm just kidding with the breakfast cereal.
But, these are serious confessions, because I haven't told this part to anyone, even Linda.
So, where to start... below is Linda's recipe which is absolutely divine.
Linda's Blue Cheese/Roquefort, etc Salad Dressing
1 cup sour cream (can be low fat)
1 cup mayonnaise (can be low fat)
1/4 c minced onion (I like a lot, just use a small yellow onion)
1 clove minced garlic (again, I use 3 or 4 depending on size)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
6 oz blue cheese crumbled - or whatever (again I use more)
Mix the first 6 ingredients and then fold in cheese. Keeps about two weeks
covered in refrigerator (unless your husband eats it all)
This recipe shouldn't be messed with, really. In the interest of health, we should just exercise, run, run, run! Chase the cat, the wife, the dog, the fish, the husband until you're heaving for breath, then sit down and eat, guilt free!
Now, since Alastair and I are lazy but smart pigs, we've altered the recipe to read this way instead:
Edye and Alastair's blue cheese dressing
1 cup creme fraiche (can be low fat)
1/2 cup semi-skimmed milk (can be nonfat, semi or full-fat, go one, no one's looking)
1 cup mayonnaise (can be low fat)
1/4 c minced shallots
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
6 oz blue cheese, the crumblier the better. So, we avoid camberzola, gorgonzola, and roquefort.
Mix the first seven ingredients, then fold in the crumbled cheese. Never keeps for two weeks, never, never.... husband always eats it all.
We use creme fraiche because it's easier to find here than sour cream. Why the milk? Well, it makes the dressing go a little farther because we use a little less. It also plays a role in the finished product... remember this is the first of three parts of a damn fine sandwich.
As for you with milk intolerance, it might just be worth the trouble. Nausea, be damned!
(I can say this because I've been there... and somethings are just worth it.)
Yes, yes, I'm back with lots to share...
The weather broke Easter weekend, an official four-day holiday with Friday and Monday "bank holidays" for all, I've learned, except those in care professions... like me. So I worked on Friday which was fine for me because I have things to do and a holiday will only get in the way. The rest of the weekend turned out to be quite delightful with our first snow of ... winter. Yes whilst everyone else is thawing out we got a good weekend of white stuff, enough for children to scatter large snowpeople throughout the city.
In between snow storms, Alastair and I snuck out to peak at our rhubarb plants which have been glistening with potential for some weeks now, like rubies against the darkness of their cloches. We managed to harvest sixteen ounces of rosy-ness, and thanks to Epicurious, we turned it into the best compote we've ever tasted. This paired with a polenta cake traveled with us to dinner where it was welcomed with open arms and mouths. I think Alastair's even planning more rhubarb plants for our future so we don't loose any sunny, ruby goodness.
