Ingredients

Blue Cheese

There are myriad varieties of blue cheeses. Most on the market are made from cow's milk, but there are both sheep's and goat's milk versions as well. The blue mold that runs in fine veins through these cheeses is most commonly from the bacteria Penicilllium roqueforti or Penicillium glaucum.

True Roquefort is made from sheep's milk in the south of France, while Stilton is the most famous English version of blue cheese. The Danish Danablu and Italian Gorgonzola are made in the same fashion. All blue cheeses have subtle differences, and the variations between creameries and countries, as with any cheese, number in the hundreds.

In 1941, Iowa State University developed a process for making blue cheese using pasteurized milk. E.H. Maytag, the son of the American dishwasher manufacturer, began producing a cow's milk cheese and his dairy still produces a fine American version of blue cheese. Maytag still ages their cheese in underground caves in much the same way as with French and European creameries. Maytag blue cheese is generally a milder version than European cheeses but it still has a creamy, tangy flavor.

Blue cheeses are generally a medium fat cheese having between 8 and 9 grams of fat per ounce. Some are higher in fat with up to 12 grams per ounce but as with so many flavorful cheeses a little can go a long way. As with many cheeses there is a fair amount of sodium so you may not have to add salt to recipes that use blue cheese.

1 ounce blue cheese = 100 calories, 8g fat, 5g sat fat, 2g mono fat, 6g protein, <1g carbohydrates, 395mg sodium, 21mg cholesterol