Update: Congratulations to Julie from Bananas for Bourbon, the winner of this giveaway. She likes her blue cheese in pasta sauce, on bread, and is hoping to incorporate it into Biscuit batter. Looks like she’ll get her chance!
My sister-in-law, Liz, hosted us for dinner on Christmas Eve eve and served Stilton-crusted beef stew that we all went crazy for.
It was an interesting coincidence because Maggy and I had just been remembering how Kerrygold Cashel Blue Cheese was the hit at the Big Summer Potluck lunch this past August. There were lots of wonderful dishes that day, but it was the big wheel of Cashel blue that everyone was talking about, heading back to the buffet table for more. At the end of the meal there wasn’t a crumble left.
Which is unusual, because as someone who frequently serves cheese, I nearly always find blue cheese left on the board. Why was the Kerrygold Cashal Blue so popular? To me it’s because this cheese is at once creamy and crumbly, mild yet distinct. It looks and tastes like butter mated with blue.
Maggy turned to me at that holiday dinner and said, “Wouldn’t the beef stew crust be perfect made with Kerrygold Cashel Blue?” The stew already had an Irish feel–much of the flavoring liquid was Guiness. I said, “You’re right!”
Maggy facebooked the folks at Kerry Gold and told them about our blue cheese crusted stout stew. In fact they liked the idea so much they suggested a giveaway. Kerrygold sent some Cashel Blue, and I developed my own recipe: Blue Cheese-Crusted Beef Stout Pie. I served it to Maggy who thought it was superb. I gave some to my friend who e-mailed to say, “It’s the best stew I ever tasted.”
So there you have it–a great recipe and a giveaway. Kerrygold will send you a thee-pound wheel of Cashel Blue, lovingly crafted by the Grubb family with milk from cows that graze on some of Ireland’s most lush and nutrient rich pastures. (FYI, there was no compensation for this post… except for a wheel of that amazing blue cheese!)
Just tell us your favorite thing to do with blue. Giveaway closes on Sunday, February 5th at 9 PM ET. We’ll announce the winner first thing Monday morning.
Blue Cheese-Crusted Beef Stout Pie
Serves 8
These days it appears that most grocery stores carry either 1-pound packages of frozen pearl onions or 9-ounce packages of creamed pearl onions. Either works. Since I can only get creamed pearl onions, my recipe calls for that. If using regular frozen pearl onions, use a 1-pound package and add an extra tablespoon of oil when sauteing garlic and herbs and increase flour to 1/4 cup.
1 recipe Blue Cheese Pastry (below)
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound sliced baby bella mushrooms
3 1/2 pounds beef chuck roast, cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
Salt and ground black pepper
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups stout, such as Guinness
2 packages (9 ounces each) frozen creamed pearl onions
1 pound each: boiling potatoes and peeled carrots, cut into bite-size chunks
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Make Blue Cheese Pastry and refrigerate. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Heat 2 tablespoons of of the oil in a 5- to 6- quart Dutch oven or heavy soup kettle over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms; sauté until most of the moisture has evaporated and mushrooms start to turn brown, 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer to a bowl; set aside.
Meanwhile, drizzle beef with another tablespoon of olive oil and season with salt and pepper; toss to coat. Working in 2 batches to avoid overcrowding, add beef chunks to hot pot and sear, turning only once, until 2 sides form an impressive, dark brown crust, 5 to 6 minutes per batch. Transfer to a bowl; set aside.
Heat remaining tablespoon of oil in pot. Add garlic, thyme, and flour; cook until garlic is golden, almost immediately. Vigorously whisk in broth, stout, and tomato paste and then creamed (or regular, see note above) pearl onions. Bring to a simmer; continue to simmer until creamed pearl onions have just thawed. Return beef to the pot. Using two potholders to protect hands, place a sheet of heavy-duty foil over pot, pressing foil down so that it touches stew. Seal foil completely around edges. Place lid snugly on pot and cook until juices bubble. Set pot in the oven and cook until meat is tender, 1 1/2 hours.
While stew cooks, bring 1 inch of water to boil in a deep skillet or pot over high heat. Place potatoes and carrots in a steamer basket, season with salt, and set in pan. Cover and steam until just tender, 6 to 8 minutes.
Remove stew from oven and carefully remove foil. Stir in steamed vegetables and Worcestershire sauce. (Stew can be cooled and refrigerated up to 2 days); return to a simmer.
About 45 minutes before serving, leave oven rack at lower-middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Roll Blue Cheese Pastry to 10- to 11-inch circle (check pan diameter). Place pastry over stew; set pot in oven and bake, uncovered, until stew is bubbly and pastry is golden brow, about 30 minutes. (For a richer colored pastry, turn on broiler and continue to cook 1 to 2 minutes longer) Spoon into soup plates and serve.
Blue Cheese Pastry
Enough for a single crust 9-inch pie
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 stick (8 tablespoons) frozen unsalted butter, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/3 cup ice water
3 ounces crumbled blue cheese, preferably Kerry Gold Cashel
Pulse flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor to blend. Add butter; process with 12 to 14 one-second pulses until mixture resembles coarse meal with pea-size butter pieces. Add blue cheese; process with 2 to 3 more one-second pulses until incorporated. Transfer mixture to a medium bowl; sprinkle ice water over mixture with a fork until mixture starts to come together. Switching to hands, form mixture into a ball pressing dough onto the side of the bowl and adding sprinkling in a little more water, if necessary to get dough to form a solid ball. Wrap dough in plastic and press into a 4-inch disk. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes or up to 2 days.
Nothing better than homemade blue cheese dressing! Although I have been known to snack on it right out of the package.
Love blue cheese biscuits-just a southern gal1
I love blue cheese just sprinkled on a salad.
I love blue cheese, sprinkled on a salad and in a cheese ball and would love to try the Kerrygold Cashel. I just love the idea of using it in a beef stew. Delicious!
On top of a Trader Joes Rosemary Raisin cracker to enjoy with a lovely glass of red wine, a simple little bite of heaven!
My favorite way to eat blue cheese is to mix it well with whipped creamed cheese to which I add a little garlic powder and spread it on pieces of lavosh.
I love making blue cheese burgers!
I love blue cheese in a salad with fruit and balsamic dressing
I like to make a blue cheese and garlic butter to go over BBQ steak! Yum yum!!!
Bacon and blue cheese burgers!
I like to use it in salads, dressings, hot dips, or over burgers. But my fave is in macaroni & cheese!!
Love it all ways, but my favorite is to top a semolina pizza crust with Stonewall Kitchen’s Roasted Garlic and Onion Jam (or my own version when I have it), crumbled blue cheese, and thin slices of prosciutto. Bake at 450 for 12-15 minutes. Great appetizer or dinner with a lemony arugula salad alongside!
Love bleu cheese on a salad
I’m a blue cheese fanatic, but one of my favorites is to make blue cheese stuffed giant olives for my martinis. Heavenly!
I’m a blue cheese fanatic, but one of my favorites is to make blue cheese stuffed giant olives for my martinis. Heavenly!
Blue cheese stuffed into figs and wrapped in bacon then broiled. I call them
“Fig Bombs”!
I like blue cheese crumbled in salads and I’ve always been wild about blue cheese salad dressing.
I like blue crumbles on broiled steak!
I love, love, love it in salads with craisins and pecans.
My favorite thing to do with bleu is throw it in a salad. Although, I love Leanne’s (#5) suggestion with rosemary-raisin crackers… YUM!
Yum! I love tossing blue cheese in salads and using it as a garnish for soups!
Oh Man, I can see myself making this non stop. Okay, that might not be good for the hips. I’ll make some salads too!
Keep it simple. Blue cheese, a little smoked ham and a cracker. Yum!
I made this Blue Cheese and Walnuts Terrine once from a recipe in Bon Appétit (I was showing of) which everyone just loved, and then we made it again and again over the course of one fall season. I found the recipe for you guys: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Blue-Cheese-and-Spiced-Walnut-Terrine-2447 I hope it is ok to add a link.
I love blue cheese crumbled on a nice crisp salad with pieces of apples and dried cranberries in it.
Creamy blue cheese sauce on pasta.
I love it crumbled on salad, or on top of a burger, or pretty much any way I can get it!
I love to make a blue cheese vinaigrette to go on a chopped salad…it is amazing (and that is using just ok blue cheese…I can’t wait to try it with quality blue cheese!)
Salad dressing. . .crumbled onto a salad. . .with crackers. . .all by itself. . .DELICIOUS!!
I adore Blue Cheese on Cobb salads, and melted over hamburgers. I find it delicious mixed with fresh pears!!
I love pizza with pear slices, crumbled blue cheese, caramelized onions and toasted walnuts. Little slices of heaven.
stuffed in dates and served on a fruit plate!
Blue cheese on a Wasa cracker with an apple slice – heaven!
I love to make a warm blue cheese dip with a bit of bacon. Great for a party – or anytime!
My favorite..I love crumbles of blue cheese in my salad along with dried cherries. I also love Pioneer Woman’s Mystery Rolls…the blue cheese in that recipe makes the dish!
Crumbled on top of salad is a favorite. I especially like it on grilled romaine with bacon, red onions and balsalmic.
Weird maybe but soooo good I put it on top of Pizza. Also good to crumble some into your cornbread batter.
A favorite recipe that uses blue cheese is strawberry salad. I combine lettuce, strawberries, sugared almonds, and sprinkle with blue cheese. It’s drizzled with a sweet dressing. Very delicious and always makes a great spring/summer salad. Thank you for the contest!
Salad and dips, but now I wnat to make the Stout Pie!
On a spinach salad with pears and walnuts dressed with a simple vinaigrette. Yum! My daughter and I are both bleu cheese fanatics.
I love blue cheese, pear and carmelized onion pizza!
Love blue cheese on a salad of toasted pecans or walnuts, straberries andmixed baby greens. Also stuff dates with blue and wrap bacon around and secure with tooth pick and bake. Yum!
Sometimes I like to eat blue cheese as is; love them topped on a salad; I sometimes add them to ground beef for hamburgers. Yummy!
Blue cheese in a spinach and walnut salad with honey & olive oil for dressing. . . That’s my favorite (and it’s the offering of my favorite organic cafe, not my own creation)
i love to eat blue cheese paired with a sliced up granny smith best.
Grape, blue cheese, and prosciutto pizza!
Sprinkled into a salad or made into bleu cheese dip served with celery sticks.
In dressing, sprinkled on a salad, melted on a steak or burger or just scraped off the end of a knife. I’ve never seen it used as a crust for stew, and it looks delicious.
I love blue cheese by itself. When we were kids, the restaurant we went to for special occasions served a relish tray (dating myself?) with a large wedge of blue cheese, My dad and my brothers and sisters (not my mom!) fell on it and always had to ask for more. Other diners were amazed we kids just loved the assertive stuff. Our farmer’s market features a wisconsin blue that is creamy like butter, too. Would love to taste this brand. If I don’t win, I will seek it out. Sounds delish.
blue chesse, butter and garlic mixed and melted on a burger. decadent and delicious. can’t wait to try this recipe (next weekend!