A HARTE APPETITE: ENHANCE YOUR WINE, SALAD OR EVEN DESSERT WITH BLUE CHEESE

"Well, I never felt more like singing the blues," went a Guy Mitchell tune that rose to the top of the charts in the late 1950's. Though Mitchell's song was plaintive, when it comes to cheese, the blues can be positively joyous.

However, blue cheese can take some getting used to. As Harvey Day condescendingly observed, people may shy away from cheeses like Roquefort and Stilton because "the plebeian proboscis is not equipped to differentiate between the sordid and the sublime." But even an aristocrat might side with David Frost when he asks, "Why is it that Swiss cheese has the holes when it's Gorgonzola that needs the ventilation?"

After all, you wouldn't think that a food which is by definition "moldy" could be so delectable. And let's face it, with the exception of blueberries, blue is normally not a sought after color in food. Indeed, when most foods turn that shade it's time to throw them out!

But blue cheese is a different matter. It's my favorite choice as an appetizer, in a salad, on top of a burger, or paired with a good port for dessert. (In fact, an outstanding cheese will make you think an ordinary wine is better than it really is.) And trust me, blue cheese raises apple pie, or better yet pear pie, to majestic heights. I wouldn't be at all surprised if Clifton Fadiman was thinking about the blue genre when he defined cheese as "milk's leap toward immortality."

Blue cheese gets its distinctive flavor by being treated with molds that facilitate the development of its characteristic blue, really blue-green, veins. (In the case of the Spanish blue cheese, Cabrales, they're almost purple.) For example, France's famed Roquefort cheese is produced by stirring into the curd Penicillium roqueforti which is actually moldy rye bread crumbs.

There are many varieties of blue cheese. There's even a blue version of England's classic Cheshire cheese. But the most well known are Danish Blue, Roquefort, Stilton, Gorgonzola, and Cabrales, all imports. Vying with these and on a par with them is Maytag blue, made not that far away at the Maytag Dairy Farms in Newton, Iowa (the same town where they make the washing machines). Though you might call these the "Blues Brothers" of the cheese world, they differ significantly. Some, for example, are made with cow's milk, others with sheep's milk. Some are crumbly, others soft and almost spreadable. Some are mild, others strong.

If you want to learn all there is to know about these cheeses, and any others for that matter, I recommend the Cheese Primer by Columbia, Mo. native Steven Jenkins, the first American to be awarded France's Chevalier du Taste-Fromage, among the highest honors to which a cheesemonger can aspire. (An autographed copy of his book is among my prized possessions.)

Jenkins points out that Danish blue cheese provides excellent value and consistent quality, if not complex flavor, and is one of the few mass produced cheeses that decidedly does not represent what Bob Brown, in referring to processed cheese, calls "the triumph of technology over conscience." The Danes invented one of my favorite cheeses, Saga blue, a wonderfully creamy cheese that is also made in this country.

Roquefort cheese, according to Jenkins, may be the most intensely flavored cheese of all. "I cannot think of any other food that possesses such complexity of flavor," he says. This cheese, which was a favorite of Charlemagne, is made with sheep's milk and ripened for months in the limestone caves of Combalou, near the town of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon in southwestern France. Its name is protected by law.

Stilton, my favorite cheese, is England's only name-protected cheese. Though it was actually never made there, it took its name from the Bell Inn at Stilton where 18th century travelers got their first taste of it. Jenkins echoes my sentiments when he observes that "Stilton's greatest glory comes at the end of a grand meal with a glass of Port or a fine red wine, good bread, and sweet fruit." It has a firm yet crumbly texture.

Gorgonzola is named for a town south of Milan where it was originally produced. Its aroma can be quite powerful. It comes in two varieties, dolce (sweet) or naturale (sharp). Jenkins recommends it for salads and as a primary ingredient in stuffed chicken or veal, pasta sauces, and pizza, or with pears and figs for dessert. "I am constantly grateful a cheese this good exits," he says.

Cabrales, one of Spain's great cheeses, is made from a mixture of goat's, cow's, and sheep's milk. Its flavor "immediately electrifies the tongue," according to Jenkins. This is a strong cheese which, Jenkins advises, demands your full attention. Therefore, he recommends it be eaten by itself with, perhaps, only some bread, walnuts, fruit or wine as an accompaniment.

Finally there is Maytag blue cheese, a domestic cheese which, according to Jenkins, represents "one of the brightest aspects of American cheese production." This creamy cheese is sold mostly through mail order.

When it comes to selecting a good specimen of any of these cheeses, probably T. S. Eliot gave the best advice when he said, "Never commit yourself to a cheese without having first examined it." Once they pass that test, these blue cheeses are the ingredient which makes the following recipes special. Try them to see why the late cookbook author and gastronome James Beard called cheese of any kind "probably the friendliest of foods."

Upscale Macaroni and Cheese

The addition of blue cheese makes this favorite childhood dish elegant enough for the most sophisticated adult. Any blue cheese will work well in this recipe from Bon Appetit Magazine, but I prefer one of the stronger varieties.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter

3 large red bell peppers cut into 1/2-inch pieces

5 celery stalks, chopped

1 1/2 cups whipping cream

1 1/2 cups half and half

1 pound crumbled blue cheese

1 teaspoon celery seeds

Cayenne pepper

3 large egg yolks

1/2 cup chopped celery leaves

1 pound penne

3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Melt butter in heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add peppers and celery and saute until just beginning to soften. Remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper. Combine cream, half and half, and blue cheese in heavy saucepan. Stir over low heat until cheese melts. Remove from heat. Add celery seeds. Season sauce with cayenne, salt and pepper. Beat yolks in medium bowl to blend and gradually whisk in half of cheese sauce. Return mixture to saucepan and whisk into remaining sauce to blend. Add celery leaves. Cook pasta until tender but firm to bite. Drain. Add sauce and vegetables and stir to blend. Transfer to a buttered 4-quart capacity oval baking dish and sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake at 400 degrees until sauce is bubbling and top is starting to brown, about 25 minutes. Serves 12.

Low Fat Blue Cheese Dressing

The use of reduced-fat sour cream and mayonnaise along with buttermilk makes this recipe, from Eating Well Magazine, surprisingly low in fat. When making this or any other blue cheese dressing, consider cheesemonger Steve Jenkins' advice: "I have never cottoned to the practice of blending Roquefort into a dressing for salad. For this purpose, any blue cheese, such as Danish Blue, will do, and at one-third to one-fourth of the price."

Ingredients:

1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese

2 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream

2 tablespoons reduced-fat mayonnaise

1/4 cup buttermilk

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

1 tablespoon chopped scallions

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In small bowl, whisk blue cheese, sour cream and mayonnaise. Stir in buttermilk, vinegar, parsley and scallions. Season with salt and pepper.

Baked Apples in Blue Cheese with Walnuts and Leeks

This dish, from Karla Fisher, executive chef of the River Lane Inn in Brown Deer, Wis., is recommended as a side dish for lamb chops or other roasted meats. But leave out the leek and the salt and pepper and you have a marvelous dessert. You could even peel and slice the apples, increasing the amount to 6, add some sugar and flour (3/4 cup sugar and about 3 tablespoons flour should do it) and bake it all in a pastry shell as a double crust pie. (Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes and then at 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until done.)

Ingredients:

1 leek, rinsed well and finely diced

1/2 tablespoon butter

4 tablespoons chopped walnuts

salt and pepper

4 tart apples, cored

4 ounces blue cheese, crumbled

4 tablespoons ruby port

Directions:

Saute leek in butter. Add walnuts and continue to saute until golden brown. Lightly salt and pepper to taste. Place cored apples in buttered baking dish. In center of each apple, add 1 tablespoon leek-walnut mixture. Add a small amount of blue cheese. Continue layering leek-walnut mixture and blue cheese in each apple until all is used. Bake apples uncovered for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, pour 1 tablespoon port over each apple, and continue baking until tender, about 5-10 minutes.

Got a recipe you'd like to share with our readers? Are you looking for a recipe for something in particular? Send your recipes and requests to A Harte Appetite, c/o The Southeast Missourian, P.O. Box 699, Cape Girardeau, MO., 63702-0699 or by e-mail to tharte@semovm.semo.edu.

~Tom Harte is a professor at Southeast Missouri State University and writes a food column every other week for the Southeast Missourian.