FYI: 3 teaspoons = 1 tablespoon |
SOUPS, ETC.soups, salads, dressings, and moreOur kitchen closes for the summer - or at least goes on vacation. Entrees are prepared on the grill and side dishes go from warm and comforting to cold and crisp. Salads, field fresh corn-on-the-cob, sliced tomatoes, and fruits in season stand in for comfort food for a couple of months. Nothing too complicated is even considered, and if we do get hungry for heavier fare, potatoes are boiled and turned into potato salad. Same goes for pasta. One of the things we try to keep on hand in this more relaxed season is my homemade blue cheese salad dressing. It's like no other! We use it on salads, of course, and as a dip for crackers or crisp veggies. We spread it in sandwiches. And, if we make a full recipe, we give it as gifts! "Why," you may be asking, "is this blue cheese dressing any better than what I can buy at the grocery store?" Because it's a four-star chef's favorite recipe and 30 years ago the only place it could be tasted was in said chef's amazing restaurant, The Yeager, in Greeley, Colorado. Maybe the reason it's so special to me is because of the way it came into my possession. I was working as personal secretary to the Vice President of Northern Colorado's largest insurance agency at the time. The 30 or so "girls" in the office lunched at The Yeager at least once or twice a week in groups of two or twenty, and we always asked for Bill's blue cheese dressing on our salads. It was (and is) amazing. One year at Thanksgiving we decided to take all of "the girls" to Bill's for our Christmas gift exchange party. It meant an entire afternoon of eating and drinking for at least 30 people - a nice piece of business for the restaurant. Never one to let a golden opportunity go by the secretary to the President, who made the party arrangements, sealed the deal by telling the chef she wanted his recipe for the dressing we all dreamed of having. Her implication was the reservation depended upon his willingness to share the recipe with her. I wasn't in on the conversation, but somehow she managed to convince him to write it down for her. We heard later there was some cash exchanged in addition to the party reservation? The problem was, cooking was not her strong suit and Bill wrote his recipe in restaurant size portions. We're talking a gallon of mayo! Pat had what she wanted, but she couldn't make use of it. In stepped Ellen. I could reduce the recipe to quart size and keep the original amazing flavor in tact. Would she give it to me? NO! But, if I would make her one of those adorable ceramic Christmas trees like I had in my office she would trade me. She, of course, would then have a recipe she could use AND the ceramic Christmas tree she coveted. Nice deal, huh? Well... I made the tree (ceramics were something I was sooo into doing at the time anyway) and got:
The Yeager's Blue Cheese Dressing.Let me know if you think it was worth it, won't you?
Just in case you wondered - Bill and Chris Yeager closed their restaurant in the 80's and retired. So far as I know there is absolutely no reason not to share the recipe freely now and it's just too wonderful to remain a secret anymore. |
