Cheese + Champagne

Before I begin, a confession: I have not always like blue cheese. It was always too strong for my Wisconsin-bred palette, which was accustomed to nothing stronger than a sharp cheddar. But my former boss and I used to frequent the Majestic Café (now just called The Majestic) in Old Town Alexandria and would share the salad, which came with some very pungent blue cheese, and I began taking small tastes. Then my tastes became bigger and bigger, and pretty soon I wanted all of it for myself (but I still shared with Sue because I’m nice like that).

Crumbly, delicious St. Pete's Select - locally made in Minnesota.

I’m not sure what kind of blue cheese that was, but it definitely wasn’t my cheese of the week – St. Pete’s Select from Minnesota’s own Faribault Dairy. This blue, Faribault Dairy’s “signature super-premium American blue cheese,” has a mild taste and crumbly texture that’s easy for the blue-cheese beginner to enjoy. I expected a much stronger flavor on first taste and was a little disappointed at first, but then I figured out the secret. I drizzled a bit of honey on top of the St. Pete’s Select, and then I got the flavor burst I was craving – salty, tangy and creamy, too. The sweetness of the honey helped to draw out St. Pete’s “blue-ness” (I don’t think that’s a real cheese term, but it is now!). Honey and blue cheese are a classic pairing, but as I found out at work the next day, other sweet foods will work. My co-worker Sara tasted the St. Pete’s and then took a bite of her apricot-mango yogurt and got the same heightened flavor experience. Who knew?

Topping the St. Pete's Select with a drizzle of honey really helped bring out the cheese's tangy flavor.

St. Pete’s Select is one of three blue cheeses crafted by Faribault Dairy – you may have heard of its siblings, Amablu Blue Cheese and Amablu Gorgonzola. All three cheeses are made from rBST-free raw cow’s milk, hand-made in traditional open vats and aged in hand-dug sandstone caves. St. Pete’s Select is aged a minimum of 100 days, making it the sharpest of the bunch.

St. Pete’s Select is available by mail-order at Amazon.com (really!), and it can also be found at Surdyk’s, Premier Cheese Market and Cheesetique. I’d say that you could find it at my house, too, but I don’t think there will be any left after today.