Apples and Walnuts with Stilton Cheese

This salad takes advantage of two classic pairings: walnuts with Stilton cheese and walnuts with apples. Pears also go well with walnuts, so if the market has stocked beautiful pears—Bosc, red Bartlett, Anjou—you can use them in place of the apples. Other blue-veined cheeses, such as Maytag, bleu d'Auvergne or Danish blue, can be substituted for the Stilton.

Ingredients:

  • 6 oz. Stilton cheese
  • 1 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 Tbs. red wine vinegar
  • 2 Tbs. heavy cream
  • 1 tsp. freshly ground pepper
  • 6 sweet eating apples, such as Braeburn, Gala or Red Delicious, unpeeled, cored and cut into 1/2-inch dice
  • 4 celery stalks, thinly sliced, plus several whole
      celery leaves for garnish
  • 2 Tbs. dried currants or raisins
  • 1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted

Directions:

Put one-third of the cheese in the bottom of a large bowl. Add the olive oil and, using a fork, mash together the cheese and oil. Add the vinegar and continue to mash and to mix. Add the cream and pepper and mix well to make a thick, chunky dressing. Add the apples, sliced celery, currants and lemon juice to the dressing and mix well. Crumble the remaining cheese and sprinkle it over the salad along with half the walnuts. Mix them into the salad gently and evenly.

Transfer the salad to a serving bowl and garnish with the remaining walnuts and the celery leaves. Serve immediately. Serves 6.

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Collection Series, Salad, by Georgeanne Brennan (Simon & Schuster, 2001).