Blue Cheese and Walnut Wafers

Finally, a slice and bake for cheese lovers! Come to think of it, I'd probably still be a good Catholic girl if the communion wafers where made out of Blue Cheese.

I came across this recipe somewhere on the Internet and it grabbed my attention as soon as I saw "blue cheese." I'm in love with the stuff. It's the butter to my toast, the apple of my eye, the peanut butter to my jelly. This was way too easy to make. If you've got a food processor, you've got this one in the bag. Serve them up next to a platter of red grapes, smoked almonds and a nice glass of wine. At first I couldn't imagine that the amount of ingredients used would produce two logs yielding 4 dozen wafers, but it really does. The wafers can be stored in an air tight container for up to a week but I can't image why, on God's green earth, you'd have any left after 15 minutes.

Two side notes:

1. I couldn't put walnuts in mine since I've had to cut them out for health reasons. But if you're okay with them, I'd triple the amount because too many walnuts is always a good thing!

2. When I made the logs and wrapped them in plastic, I stored them in the freezer until I was ready to slice them.

1/2 cup butter (1 stick) softened
6 oz crumbled blue cheese at room temperature
1 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts

Mix together the butter, flour and blue cheese in a food processor. The mixture will start to pull away and form a soft ball of dough.

Remove the dough and place it in a bowl. Mix in the walnuts. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 5 minutes.

Remove from the refrigerator and divide in to two balls. Form each ball in to an 8 inch log and cover well with plastic wrap. Chill for an hour.

Slice each log in to 1/4 inch slices. Place slices on an ungreased or parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 350 for 12 minutes or until lightly browned.

Cheesy Herbed Popovers

I can't say that I was always a fan of Emeril Lagasse but it was his recent cookbook, Farm to Fork, that made me give him a second look. There are so many tasty recipes in the cookbook and of course I gave the ones with cheese the highest priority. So last night I decided to whip up a batch of his cheesy herbed popovers. These were so simple to put together. While the rest of the dinner was cooking, these popovers were in the oven doing their magic as only popovers can do. Light, cheesy and perfect!

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
4 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups whole milk
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 cup all purpose flour
2 tablespoons chopped mixed herbs such as parsley, basil or chives
2 ounces of shredded cheddar cheese

1. Pre heat oven to 450 F

2. Brush the cups of a standard 12 cup muffin tin with some of the melted butter. Divide the Parmesan evenly among the cups.

3. Combine the eggs, salt, pepper, milk, cream and the remaining butter in a blender and blend until well combined. Add the flour and blend for 15 seconds, until smooth.

4. Add the fresh herbs (no more blending) and fill each muffin cup half way with the batter. Divide the cheddar among the cups and fill the muffin cups to the top with the remaining batter.

5. Bake the popovers at 450 for 15 minutes. Then reduce the heat to 350 and bake for 10 more minutes. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DURING THE BAKING TIME!

6. Remove the muffins tin from the oven and unmold the popovers on to a wire rack. Pierce the side of each popover with a small sharp knife to allow the steam to escape (this will help keep them from deflating.) Serve immediately.