Words and images by Fiona Hugues
Look at me all brave and eating blue cheese! To be fair this dish doesn’t scream the pongy blue of old, mainly because I’ve toned it down a tad with cream cheese, but it still has wonderful depth, and added celery gives these little terrines unctuous springtime crunch. By all means use Roquefort or Stilton if you wish, but honestly those blue cheese masterworks should really be left unsullied, so I prefer to keep the blue I use for these to local and low key supermarket varieties. Simple to make, with only a handful of ingredients, they can easily be made days ahead and kept in the fridge, so make a few for those times you need bougie snacks in a hurry. Serve on boards with crackers or croutons at apéritif hour, with whatever crisp seasonal fruit you have handy and some fresh comb or honey for drizzling. Recipe easily halves for date night or doubles to serve a crowd.
2 x 100g wedges blue cheese
250g cream cheese, softened
100g butter, softened
2–3 sticks of celery, finely chopped (around 1 cup)
3 tbsp chives, finely chopped
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
Line the base of two 10cm springform tins (you can find them at Kmart) or a small loaf tin, with clingfilm.
Combine the cream cheese and butter with a fork until smooth and stir in the celery and chives until incorporated. Taste and season if necessary.
Divide the celery mixture in half and spread one part on the base of your tins. Crumble the blue cheese on top to make a layer. Smooth over the rest of the celery mixture and press down to make an even kind of cake. Cover with clingfilm and refrigerate for a few hours until firm.
Invert onto a board when ready to serve. Will easily keep in the fridge for a week.