Even better blue cheese dressing

“’You know’ said Edward, after I told him about an episode at work, ‘I’ve never really seen you laugh, in a loud voice, with your head tossed back, like you are really enjoying it.’ Edward refilled my glass with the crisp Vouvray we were drinking and we both started on our avocado salads, using thinly sliced pieces of baguette to lap up the pungent blue cheese dressing.”
Isabel Vincent, Dinner with Edward
Indeed, Vincent is right. The perfect partner for a blue cheese dressing is avocado. I served this dressing with a salad of avocado and lambs’ lettuce into which I added some chopped broccoli stem (gives fabulous crunchy texture), a cooked sausage and some chopped salami. It really was excellent.
It’s more traditional to use sour cream, rather than crème fraîche, but it’s less successful. It can become a bit watery. This isn’t a dressing for anyone concerned about watching their weight – any low-fat products will also result in a watery dressing.
If you use half the amount of milk, and blitz to make it smooth, this becomes an excellent dip.
Covered, this dressing will keep in the fridge for about a week.
Even Better Blue Cheese Dressing
Ingredients
• 4 tbsp/¼ cup crème fraîche
• 4 tbsp/¼ cup mayonnaise
• 4 tbsp/¼ cup milk, full fat – add half first, then add all the remaining ingredients, and then slowly add more milk, stopping as soon as you think it is becoming too liquid
• 120g/4 oz/1 cup crumbled blue cheese
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Fresh soft herbs (parsley, tarragon) to snip in
Instructions
1. Mix all together, and use to dress the salad.
