Jarred blue cheese dressing got me through many late night bouts of furious essay-writing in college—let’s not kid ourselves, it never made it onto a salad, though it saw many a Triscuit. But now that I’m an adult, I’ve found an even better craving: the homemade blue cheese–bacon dip at New York barbecue joint Blue Smoke. I feed it to every visiting friend and family member and have made instant addicts out of every single one; it’s that good. Now we can all be addicted at home.
YIELD: about 1-1/2 cups
TOTAL TIME: 15 minutes, plus overnight chilling time
DIFFICULTY: 1
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
1/4 cup buttermilk
4 ounces (about 1 cup) crumbled blue cheese—don’t skimp; get a quality blue such as Maytag or Great Hill
3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives, plus more for garnish
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt (less if using bacon)
1/2 cup finely chopped cooked bacon (from about 4 slices), plus more for garnish (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS:
Whisk the sour cream and buttermilk together in a bowl until loose and creamy, then use a rubber spatula to stir in the blue cheese, 3 tablespoons chives, pepper, salt, and 1/2 cup bacon (if using). Press the blue cheese against the sides of the bowl to crumble it further and blend it into the dip.
Cover and refrigerate overnight to let the flavors meld further before serving. Garnish with the remaining chives and, if desired, chopped bacon.
Store the dip in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to a week.