Blue Cheese Butter

When I was a kid I hated blue cheese.  Nothing could convince me to eat it.  And whenever my mom made something with blue cheese in it, I resisted it with all my stubborn might.

But this story has a good ending.  Once I hit adulthood I finally came to my senses and fell completely in love with it! Now it’s almost a hobby of mine to sample all the blue cheeses I can get my hands on, both domestic and international varieties.  I’ve had at least 20 different kinds of blue cheese from around the world and I can regularly be found browsing through the specialty cheese section, eager to try a new one.

I love using blue cheese in a variety of ways, including just nibbling on it or featuring it as part of a cheese board for entertaining.  Blue cheese is also amazing in cream sauces, with pasta dishes, on pizza, salads and about a thousand other ways.  Something I also like to do with it is incorporate it into a blue cheese compound butter.  Besides tasting out of this world delicious, it’s also a great way to lengthen the life of the blue cheese because once you mix it with the butter you can freeze it.  When I see specialty blue cheeses on clearance when they’re approaching their expiration date, I’ll stock up on them and, after eating a generous portion of them, I’ll make blue cheese butter and freeze the logs so I have them on hand as needed.

It’s absolutely divine melted on grilled corn or steamed veggies and added to mashed potatoes!

And melted over a grilled steak…it’s pure heaven!

Let’s get started!

You just need two things:  Butter and blue cheese.

How much blue cheese you use per stick of butter is personal preference.  I usually gauge it based on the strength of the blue cheese.  The milder it is, the more of it you’ll need to provide a good amount of flavor; the stronger it is, the less you’ll need.  I love a strong blue cheese though so I’ll use a good amount of even the strongest varieties like Stilton.

Optionally, you can add some fresh herbs to it like parsley, thyme, rosemary or chives or add some finely minced garlic.

The butter needs to be at room temperature so it’s soft.  Combine it in a bowl with the blue cheese, which has also been allowed to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.

Mash the two together with a fork.  You don’t want to puree it because keeping a few of those tiny cheese chunks in the butter contributes to a nice texture.

Scoop the mixture onto some plastic wrap on a flat surface.

Roll it up in the plastic wrap, pressing and forming it into a log.

Chill for at least a couple of hours before serving.  This will keep in the fridge for the life of the blue cheese or can be frozen.

Enjoy!