Heirloom Tomatoes + Blue Cheese

The secret here is definitely in the sauce. This simple chop-house staple is indeed, capable of greatness. Especially when you spring for the appropriate blue cheese, and during the summer months you opt out of the beefsteak tomatoes for some gorgeous heirlooms. My hands-down favorite cheese for the perfect blue cheese dressing is Point Reyes Blue. It is bright, tangy, crisp and crumbly. Another great option which brings a nostalgic visit to your palette would be Maytag Blue. It reminds me of childhood lettuce wedges at Bob’s Big Boy. Ya see there, I am totally willing to date myself on your behalf.

Today, instead of Point Reyes Blue, I am using an impressive American relative newcomer to the scene – Great Hill Blue. It too has the qualities needed to compose an excellent blue cheese dressing but as a table cheese, delivers a little more complexity. Save a chunk of the wedge back to nibble and crumble atop your dressed heirlooms. I’m serving them to my sweet hubby and his colleague alongside cracked pepper + fleur de Sel encrusted New York strips… as a domestic engineer, I like to think of this as “job security”.

Talk about a natural beauty… these babies are so gorgeous I can HARDLY stand it!

10 oz Great Hill Blue or Point Reyes Blue, separated
8 oz creme fraiche
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp Worcestershire
1/2 tsp kosher salt
several grinds of fresh pepper

Place 8 oz of your blue cheese in a small bowl and mash with a fork. Add remaining ingredients and whisk vigorously until combined and blue cheese is still slightly lumpy. Use the last 2 oz of cheese for sprinkling.

Tagged as: blue cheese dressing, buttermilk, crème fraiche, Great Hill Blue, heirloom tomatoes, Point Reyes Blue, steakhouse tomato with blue cheese