Caramelized Apple-Blue Cheese Spread

20 Servings
(3 tablespoons spread and
2 slices bread or 2 crackers each)

Prep time: 45 minutes
Start to finish: 1 hour 15 minutes

1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon sugar
2 large firm apples (preferably Fuji or Braeburn),
finely chopped (about 2 cups)
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
4 oz (1 cup) crumbled blue cheese
(preferably Maytag or Roquefort)
3/4 cup mayonnaise
3/4 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans
40 slices French bread or crackers

1. In 1-quart saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Stir in sugar until it dissolves, about 20 seconds. Add apples and shallot. Cook 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally until mixture turns golden brown and aroma is reminiscent of apple cider. (Do not rush process; color takes a while to form, but the flavor is worth it.) Set aside to cool completely

2. Meanwhile, in small bowl, mix cream cheese, cheese, mayonnaise, sour cream and salt until well blended. Gently stir in cooled caramelized apple mixture and the pecans. Refrigerate 30 minutes before serving. Garnish with additional chopped pecans if desired. Serve with bread or crackers.

1 Serving: Calories 350 (Calories from Fat 170); Total Fat 19g (Saturated Fat 7g; Trans Fat 0.5g); Cholesterol 30mg; Sodium 600mg; Total Carbohydrate 37g (Dietary Fiber 2g; Sugars 4g); Protein 8g • % Daily Value: Vitamin A 6%; Vitamin C 0%; Calcium 10%; Iron 10% • Exchanges: 2 Starch, 1/2 Other Carbohydrate, 3-1/2 Fat • Carbohydrate Choices: 2-1/2

Why It Works: Blue Cheese

Blue cheese owes its color to a familiar mold: penicillin. The three most common blues are Roquefort (from France), Gorgonzola (from Italy) and Stilton (from England). Until quite recently, the process of introducing mold to these cheeses was left to Mother Nature. (Blocks of Roquefort were actually held in ancient caves where the mold lived!) Today the mold spores are usually mixed with the milk or the curd during cheesemaking (the mold is not injected as sometimes thought). Enzymes in the mold that eat and digest milk fat are responsible for the unique flavor of blue cheese. Over time, the mold penetrates the cheese causing "veins" to form and the cheese to become crumbly.

Buy the Book

from:
Betty Crocker Why It Works
Insider Secrets to Great Food
by Kevin Ryan and the Betty Crocker Editors
Wiley
Hardcover; 223 pages; US $24.95
ISBN: 0-471-75305-X
Recipe reprinted by permission.