Creamy Blue Cheese Dressing

(à la Joy of Cooking)

Hello Grape to Table readers, 

Thank you for following along on my journey appreciating wine, food, and life! If you are just tuning in you might want to check out my first post (An Origin Story Part 1). I promise that more in-depth wine and food writing is to come, but my back story does relate some important content that’s gotten me here! 

As a reward for reading the first chapter of my origin story, I do indeed have a recipe for you! In that first post I told of my fledgling attempts at cooking in a small, modest kitchen during my college years (circa 1998, Athens, GA). I had picked up a copy of the Joy of Cooking as it had happened to be the only cookbook I had seen my mother very occasionally reach for. 

One of the first recipes I tackled was for Creamy Blue Cheese Dressing. I was a child in the 80s, and store bought dressing (especially blue cheese) was a staple in our house! Furthermore, we ate out A LOT, and mostly at very casual spots that also considered Blue Cheese Dressing to be an essential. In particular, I remember a country restaurant called Clarence’s Back Forty (yep, that was the name!) where they had caddies they brought to your table – three dressings on a stand – the triumvirate of dressings! I definitely remember the Creamy Blue Cheese, but I am not sure of the others. Surely, there was “Italian dressing”, but the third…was it Thousand Island or the somewhat scary, bright orange “French dressing”? 

Well my family mostly went for Blue Cheese, and I still remember the thrill of learning I could make my own. So dawned my realization: the magic of cooking!

My Original Copy Of Joy of Cooking (well used!)

Honestly, I am not sure I have made this dressing since that day in Athens (many years ago) – what a tragedy. So this past weekend I busted out my well worn Joy of Cooking and gave it a go! Not surprisingly it was just as delicious as I remember. I upgraded the original with more exact measurements, but honestly it does not need to be changed beyond that. It yields that profoundly delicious flavor that many of us remember from childhood (over a wedge of iceberg!). I have to admit that I could not bring myself to buy iceberg lettuce and opted for local Bibb lettuce with plenty of summer tomatoes and cucumbers. I will definitely be bringing Blue Cheese Dressing back into the rotation, and you should too! 

If you are looking for a wine pairing to go with your Creamy Blue Cheese Dressing Salad (yes, I think this should be the name of the salad – since it really is all about the Blue Cheese dressing!) – I would recommend a somewhat robust white like the Northern Rhone white from Graillot pictured here or of course white Burgundy (aka Chardonnay from its homeland) or even a new world Chardonnay would also work. My grandmother would certainly have reached for her Cali Chard (more on this later!). 

Cheers! And happy cooking!  

Creamy Blue Cheese Dressing (from Joy of Cooking with slight modifications)

1 cup mayonnaise (Duke’s please!)

½ cup sour cream

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon minced garlic 

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 

4 ounces high quality blue cheese, crumbled by hand

Combine all ingredients except blue cheese in a blender or food processor and run on a low speed until well combined. Add blue cheese and pulse until it's your desired consistency. (Blend less for chunky and blend more for super creamy!) (And no, it is not a typo that I do not call for salt. The saltiness of the mayonnaise proved perfect for my taste, but you do you!)

Yield: About 2 cups 

P.S. I do recommend buying a high quality wedge of blue cheese (like Point Reyes from California) and not the pre-crumbled blue cheese that really lacks the punch. (Plus, all the pre-crumbled and pre-shredded cheeses have a weird coating on them that sketches me out!) 

P.P.S. A perfect soundtrack for this recipe is the actual soundtrack from The Big Chill, my parents’ favorite movie!