Blacksticks Blue Cheese

 

In my travels today I came across a new cheese.  It’s called Blacksticks Blue and it's a handmade cheese made by the Butler family in Lancashire, England.   Imagine how fun it was for me to find it today here in not so sunny Greensboro, NC!    It’s a relatively new cheese that was created in 2003 and since its creation it has won its fair share of awards.  It’s a soft blue cheese that has a beautiful amber color that is hand made in small batches.

It melts in your mouth.  I enjoyed my first taste with a slice of pear.  Later in day I served it on a piece of Ciabatta bread that I sliced into bite size pieces with some thinly slice roast beef deli meat and Dijon mustard.  I would imagine that horseradish sauce would be even better.  I topped that with a thin piece of cucumber and some  crumbled Blacksticks Blue Cheese.  Delicious

And here is a tip about the best way to store your cheese.  Cheese needs to “breathe” so as soon as I get a piece of cheese that I have purchased home, I unwrap it from the cellophane wrap from the store and then I like to re-wrap it in parchment paper.  This way the cheese still gets a fair amount of air.  I then sometimes slip it into a zip-loc sandwich baggie but I don’t seal the bag because again you want some air to circulate around your cheese.  I am by no means an expert but this method works best for me and my cheese seems to taste better and last longer. 

Keep your eyes peeled for Blacksticks Blue.  It’s delicious!