| Product: |
Stilton |
| Date: |
02/09/08 (101 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Great taste. A little goes a long way.
Disadvantages: An aquired taste. Too strong for some folk.
At around £5.50 a kilo, Blue Stilton is not the cheapest British cheese available. It has a creamy and crumbly texture and a sharp, biting taste. You could almost say that this cheese bites back.
The veins are produced by making holes in the maturing cheeses into which harmless bacteria are introduced. My son who is a cheese addict won't eat Blue Stilton because of this but he loves it when it is in soup and he can't see it!
The fat content of this cheese is not as high as I expected. It can vary but comes somewhere in the middle of Cheddar and Edam.
Because of it's strong smell it needs to be kept in an airtight container in the fridge. I quite like the way Tesco sell it in semi rigid packaging which makes it easier to handle. I tend to cut it in it's package to save mess because it does tend to self destruct and fall to bits as soon as you show a knife to it!
It leaves a salty tang in your mouth and is great for finishing a meal with to clean your palate of sweet stuff.
It is good with plain crackers or to put very small bits in with Cheddar to enliven cheese on toast.
Don't let it's rather odd veined appearance put you off, and if you are trying this for the first time take a smal piece and really let yourself savour all the different levels of flavours that are in there.
It's production is limited to a small area of Cambridgeshire and very few places have a licence to produce it. The criteria for it's genuineness (Is that a word?) is strict. I won't list them because I doubt many of you are going to try making this at home.
I use it in Broccoli and Stilton soup. (as I said earlier)
It's probably the easiest soup in the world to make. This ease is necessary for me because I am no domestic Goddess! (Domestic Godawful more like!)
Here's the recipe.
Take a kilo of broccoli. (I use the frozen florets because it's cheaper and there's no waste.) Cover it with water and boil until cooked. Add a couple of veggie stock cubes and any left over veg from yesterday that is lurking in the fridge. Finely slice in a couple of potatoes if you want to make it thicker.
When it's all cooked (about ten minutes later,) liquidise it with a hand held blender if you've got one. (If not fiddle about with your liquidiser or a spud masher!)
Just before serving, turn the heat under the pan right down so the soup is barely simmering. Add a couple of ounces of Blue Stilton. You will have to chop or slice it because it's impossible to grate without leaving most of it on the grater. Stir it in until it's melted. Serve with crusty bread.
You might want to add more or less cheese, depending on your taste. You don't need to add salt because there is enough in the cheese and possibly the stock cubes. Serves about 6.
There you go! Delicious soup that's good for you. (Try not to eat too much of it if there is anyone you want to impress coming round later. It can make you fart. Sorry, but it's true)
The Blue Stilton is ideal for this soup because it adds depth of flavour to an otherwise bland mix of vegetables.
Britain is good at making tasty cheeses.
Blue Stilton has got to be up there with the best of them.
Summary: There is no taste like it.
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