CHUNKY BLUE CHEESE DRESSING

Cheesy, creamy, gloriously pungent, old-fashioned, homemade Blue Cheese Dressing that will make you go "Mmmmm".

I'm soooo glad I happened upon this dressing recipe whilst browsing about on Food52.com.  Though I took just a few wee liberties to hone this recipe to make it to our liking, so that our taste buds grin foolishly with each bite, the original "Basic, Bang Up Blue Cheese Dressing" hit the spot when it comes to inspiration.

This is that familiar, old-fashioned, creamy goodness, that we all know, amped up with a cheeky balance of boldness, an innuendo of honey sweetness and a delightful pow of heat, the combination of which almost, well actually most certainly, taunts the senses.

Since I started to make this recipe a couple of years ago we've found we love this blue cheese dressing on fresh heirloom tomatoes, or as dip for cucumber spears or crispy hot wings or zucchini fritters, slathered on BBQ'd steak or a hefty BLT, tossed with grilled fresh corn off the cob, or of course, draped over a crunchy wedge of iceberg with a crown of bacon bits, a la retro steakhouse.

I've also found that this institution of a dressing is pretty much flawless of it's own right.  Play with it.  Tweak the texture or seasonings to suit your fancy of the moment.  I'm pretty damn sure that the results will always scream, "Dig in!"

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"Many's the long night I've dreamed of cheese - - toasted, mostly."
~ Robert Louis Stevenson

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CHUNKY BLUE CHEESE DRESSING - Makes about 1 1/2 cups

4 ounces blue cheese (sometimes I use Gorgonzola), crumbled or chunked or mashed with a fork
2/3 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup well shaken buttermilk, or 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice combined with 2-3 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar (plain white vinegar is fine, too)
1 tablespoon runny honey
1 generous tablespoon minced fresh, or freeze dried chives
Freshly ground black pepper
Tabasco

Mix the mayo, sour cream, buttermilk, vinegar and honey in a small bowl, whisking to combine. Stir in the blue cheese and chives.  Season with a good little schwack of black pepper, to taste.  Now you can add a few shots of Tabasco and just stir a bit to create some pinkish streaks, or mix it in to create a very slight pink tinge, or wait and splash some dabs of Tabasco on top of the dressing when you serve it up.  You pick, you can't go wrong.

You can use the dressing right away, but it gets better if you let it rest in the fridge for a few hours so that all those ingredients mingle and get happy, happy.  Mmmmm......