I freely admit that I digress more than I should… at least that’s what The Lady tells me… a lot… but it’s my blog and I ascribe to the theory that digression adds spice… even though for me cheese is the most fascinating of foods and ranks right up there with napping and chasing other feline interlopers off the property.
My favorite days around the manse are when The Lady is home from the cheese mines. The sweet, smoky smell of New Mexico Hatch Chile Peppers fills the air this morning as The Lady roasts them over the gas flames of the stove. I suspect a mac n cheese with a couple of the peppers is on the menu today and you can bet she has other meals planned that will cause The Man to swoon… he does that a lot… and me to love her all the more.
The only downside to these days is that I have to share her with The Man. Despite my best efforts, The Lady refuses to discuss any possibility that she and I could go it on our own. After thirty years with The Man, he is solidly entrenched and to quote The Lady, “Young man, you were late to the party; The Man has seniority. Get over it.” Sheesh… humankinds and their loyalty to each other…
Her days off always include a new cheese from a cheese mine somewhere in the world… and this is where my digression ends…
David Gremmels and Cary Bryant, the Cheese Swells who run Oregon’s Award-Winning Rogue Creamery, have teamed with Fred Meyer to create a blue cheese crumble blend exclusive to the Fred Meyer Specialty Cheese Kiosks ( there are 27 Fred Meyer Specialty Cheese Kiosks in Oregon, Washington, Alaska and Idaho*).
The Lady likes to shop at the Fred Meyer at 39th and Hawthorne in southeast Portland, Oregon. The store has one of the specialty cheese kiosks and The Lady often finds cheeses there that she brings home for your favorite Feline Foodie (that would be me) to taste and review.
Last night she arrived with a container of this new, Fred Meyer exclusive blue cheese blend and treated The Man and me to a freshly baked whole grain baguette schmeared with it. After The Man stopped swooning, he declared it, “One of the best blue cheeses I have ever tasted.” (In the spirit of full disclosure note that there is not one blue cheese The Man has tasted that he didn’t like and usually when The Man and blue cheese interact, there is some swooning involved…)
However, that doesn’t mean he was not speaking the truth…
This unique blend is a combination of Oregon Blue, Oregonzola and Crater Lake Blue; all award-winning cheeses from Rogue Creamery located in Central Point, Oregon in the beautiful Rogue River Valley. This blend is made from organic raw cow’s milk, certified by Food Alliance, and handmade using sustainable practices.
And it’s tasty. It has a nice robust flavor without being overpowering. It is silky on the palate and looks gorgeous sitting atop the baguette.
The Lady, being the wise woman that she is, divided the container and only allowed The Man and me to enjoy half of it with the bread as an appetizer. No doubt it would have disappeared quickly otherwise.
After our cheese plate, she delighted us with a lettuce wedge topped with The Man’s homegrown tomatoes, Hempler ‘s Peppered Bacon crumbles (bought at the Hawthorne Fred Meyer meat counter which The Lady also frequents and I have reviewed here) with a dressing made using the other half of The Rogue Blue Crumbles. Knowing me well, The Lady made my “salad” simply with bacon crumbles and the dressing.
Had I been consulted I would have named this My Rogue Blue Cheese Heaven Crumbles… but what do I know? I’m just a cat with a somewhat sophisticated palate…
I give The Rogue Blue Crumbles 4 Paws out of 4 Paws (cause that’s all I’ve got).
Serving Suggestions: Well, how about serving it with a baguette or use it on that special salad. You could really kick the heck out of everyday mac n cheese with this blue blend.
Wine Pairing: A nice Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley is the perfect pairing for this cheese. The Lady chose a bottle from Newburg, Oregon’s Award-Winning Adelsheim Vineyards.
Beer Pairing: Sierra Nevada Bigfoot, a Barleywine style ale.
Source: Raw Cow’s Milk
And remember, you can only buy this is 27 places and they are all in the Pacific Northwest…
- The 27 Fred Meyer Specialty Cheese Kiosks are located at select Fred Meyer stores in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area; Bend, Oregon; Vancouver, Washington; Seattle and Tacoma Washington metropolitan area; Anchorage and Wasilla Alaska; Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; Meridian, Idaho. For a store in your area, comment below and we’ll post the Fred Meyer Specialty Cheese Kiosk nearest you.
