Mom’s Blue Cheese Dressing
My mom has been known for her blue cheese dressing for as long as I can remember. In fact, the recipe is so often requested by folks that my dad has it formatted as a recipe card on his computer for easy sharing. And I love this blue cheese so much that while we had an AMAZING caterer at our wedding, we asked if my mom could provide her blue cheese dressing to accompany the crudité. They agreed to the rather strange request and after the wedding even they asked for the recipe.
When our married life began I vowed that our fridge would never be without a jar of this beloved dressing/dip/heaven in a jar. Being a little obsessive, I take this very seriously: no one is allowed to finish the last batch until the new one is ready. Aaaaand, for some reason I started numbering them. Crazy? Silly? Perhaps. Don’t care. After 15+ years of marriage we are on blue cheese #61 and both facts bring me bliss.
I, too, have been asked for this recipe often. I usually send an email with a pdf of my dad’s recipe card along with my notes (of which I now have a few, having tweaked a little through the years). However, I am finally taking action and putting the recipe here so I can share the love with all of you in one fell swoop.
INGREDIENTS
8 oz blue cheese, crumbled*
2 garlic cloves, minced**
juice of one lemon (or half if very large)***
2 cups (416 grams) Hellmann’s real mayonnaise, never low fat
lots of freshly ground pepper
~¼ cup buttermilk (or evaporated milk)****
I like to start by adding mayo to a large bowl, measuring by weight. I then add the blue cheese, fresh lemon juice, minced garlic, and grind in a lot of fresh black pepper (I like using a combo of “medium” and “coarse”). I use a spatula to stir and check to see if it looks peppery enough for me, adding more if desired. I then add buttermilk until it is the consistency I am looking for.
This fits perfectly in a quart sized Ball jar - I prefer the wide mouth jars
* My mom swears by the Treasure Cave crumbles easily found in most grocery stores (they used to be 4oz packages but increased to 5oz a while back - we just throw it all in). I often get the TJ’s crumbles. I have used "fancier" slabs of blue cheese, but honestly, the dressing was not any better.
** The original recipe calls for 3-4 garlic cloves and if you are using the dressing/dip immediately for a party or something, you can go ahead and use that much. However, even though I am a garlic fiend, I add less if it is just for our home jar. Reason being, it gets MUCH stronger as it ages and the garlic can overtake everything. However you do it, it is fun to see how the last of the older batch compares to the freshy.
*** I don't measure the lemon juice; I just add the juice of a whole lemon or a half if it’s gigantic. It really is flexible, so don’t sweat it.
**** I add the buttermilk last, and a little at a time, so I can get the consistency I want. These days I keep it pretty thick so it is perfect for big blobs on my healthy carrot (ha). If I ever want it as a thinner dressing I just add a few dashes of red wine vinegar or a splash of buttermilk to the salad bowl to loosen it up.
The original recipe is from a 1960’s Signal Battalion Officers’ Wives’ Cookbook. While going through the book I found dishes I remember from my childhood dinner table (the baked beans & Chicken Divan) and my mom’s contributions (ginger snaps, sandies, and French cream frosting). These recipes were easy to hone in on, as they were on the dirtiest pages, a true sign of how beloved they are. And those sandies…I make them every year at Christmastime and never knew the origin. I love this so, so much.
This is the recipe card my dad has formatted on his computer. I no longer break it out, as I know it by heart.
mise en place
tools
mayo, lemon juice, garlic, and blue cheese
black pepper added (after stirring I added more)
buttermilk has been added
This batch was a birthday gift for a dear friend, hence the “B”. I mean, you wouldn’t expect me to mess up my regular number count, would you? ;-)