On a recent visit to South Carolina, I was lucky enough to visit Clemson University to try some of its famous blue cheese. The university first started making its tangy, marbled cheese in the 1940s, when a dairy professor realized that the cool, dank tunnel of an unfinished local railway line would make the perfect curing environment. Although the operations have since moved indoors, Clemson continues to make its Roquefort-style cheese in small batches using the same artisanal methods (see Sources, page 377). At the campus cafes, you can try everything from blue cheese pizza to blue cheese milkshakes. This rich, creamy dressing was inspired by the flavor of Clemson blue cheese—but in a pinch, any Roquefort-style cheese will do.

　　

Ingredients

makes about 2 cups

　　1 cup (4 ounces) crumbled blue cheese

　　3 tablespoons sherry vinegar

　　1 small shallot, minced

　　3/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk

　　1/4 cup your favorite or Homemade Mayonnaise (page 280)

　　1/4 cup Greek yogurt

　　1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives

　　1 teaspoon dried marjoram or basil

　　Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

　　

Step 1

Place the blue cheese, vinegar, and shallot in a small bowl and mash the cheese into the vinegar with the back of a fork to blend. Whisk in the buttermilk, mayonnaise, yogurt, chives, and marjoram until well combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste and refrigerate in an airtight container until ready to use, or for up to 1 week.

　　

On the Side

Step 2

Re-create classic sports bar flavors by serving this thick, piquant dressing as a cooling dipping sauce for barbecued chicken and fresh celery, cucumber, and carrot sticks. It’s also great drizzled over a wedge of crisp iceberg or Bibb lettuce.

　　Reprinted with permission from Sara Foster's Southern Kitchen: Soulful, Traditional, Seasonal by Sara Foster. Copyright © 2011 by Sara Foster. Published by Random House. All Rights Reserved.Sara Foster is the owner of Foster's Market, the acclaimed gourmet take-out store/cafés in Durham and Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and the author of several cookbooks including The Foster's Market Cookbook, winner of the Best Cookbook Award from the Southeast Booksellers Association. She has appeared numerous times on Martha Stewart Living Television and NBC's Today show. She has also been featured in magazines such as More, House Beautiful, and Southern Living, and is featured regularly in Bon Appétit.