INTO THE BLEU

For most of my life, I had a love/hate relationship with bleu cheese. This stinky blue hunk of cheese didn't seem like anything I needed in my life until... I was introduced to the glorious delight known as BLEU CHEESE CHIPS. They're salty, they're crunchy, & they're creamy. What could be better?

Now this recipe is a staple on a few restaurant menus, but it's one you can make easily at home.

You basically take a creamy, dreamy sauce & pour it over crunchy kettle chips. The bleu cheese really gives the sauce a nice tangy bite.

What I've learned about bleu cheese is it's best consumed fresh off the wedge, don't even bother with pre-packaged crumbles. For this recipe I used a buttermilk bleu by Roth, a nice creamy bleu cheese. You'll also want to make sure you use a sturdy chip, I love kettle cooked chips for this recipe.

This is also a pretty quick recipe to whip up. In about 20 minutes you can have delicious appetizer (or meal, no judging). Serve this up at your next dinner party for a real restaurant worthy dish & fall in love with bleu cheese forever.

BLEU CHEESE CHIPS

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup onion, diced

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 cups milk

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

6 ounces bleu cheese, crumbled

2-3 green onions, sliced

salt + pepper

plain kettle chips (I like unsalted Zapp's)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small saucepan, add the milk & set over low heat to warm.

In a separate saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the diced onion & cook until translucent.

Sprinkle the flour over your sautéed onions & stir until flour is combined. Slowly wisk in your warmed milk & continue to stir to make sure the sauce has no lumps. Add cayenne pepper & a dash of salt. Continue to stir the sauce until thickened, about 5-8 minutes.

While the sauce continues to cook, pour your chips into a skillet or baking sheet to warm in the oven. Cook at 350 degrees for about 5 minutes. This step is totally optional, but something about the warm chips makes them taste homemade.

Once the sauce is thick, turn off the heat. Add most of the bleu cheese, reserving some crumbles for topping. Stir until cheese is melted. Taste for seasoning. Pour over your chips. Top with more bleu cheese crumbles & garnish with sliced green onions.

This dish is best enjoyed immediately as the chips will get soggy if this sits for too long. If you'd like to serve these at a party, you could easily make sauce & place in a bowl as a dip. It would still be just as delicious.

Enjoy!