Roquefort Dressing

This is my version of the wonderful Roquefort dressing that was served at the Magic Lamp Inn in Cucamonga CA when I worked there as a prep-cook 40-45 years ago. As memory serves, it tastes pretty much like the original and is great on salads and as a dip for French fries, chips, chicken wings, or just about anything else you might want to dip in a blue cheese dressing. You have to start this a day ahead to drain the yogurt.

• Ready In: 30 mins
• Serves: 16-20
• Yields: 8 cups

Ingredients

• 1  quart nonfat plain yogurt or 1  quart  full-fat  Greek yogurt, if you have no health problems or if you think the stuff is to die for,the original recipe was for p
• 8  ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 2  cups  good quality thick mayonnaise (I always use Hellman’s or Best Foods)
• 4 -6  ounces  good quality blue cheese (Maytag or Danish Blue is good)
• 4 -5  ounces  good quality Roquefort cheese, i use societe bee brand if i can find it,if you are on a budget,double up on good blue cheese even r
• 4 -5  scallions (green onions)
• 1⁄2 bunch flat-leaf Italian parsley, stemmed
• 1⁄2 small  white onion
• 2  cloves garlic
• 2  tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1⁄4 teaspoon  hot sauce
• 1⁄2 teaspoon seasoning salt, to taste
• 1⁄4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

1. The night before you want to make the dressing, line a colander with a wet paper towel, stir the yogurt well, and place in the colander to drain.
2. Cover with another damp paper towel, and allow to drain overnight.
3. If you are a wuss, place the colander in a bowl, and let it drain in the fridge; if not, just leave it in the sink overnight.
4. Yogurt just gets better when in sets at room temperature; it’s a living organism; it doesn’t like the cold any more than you do!
5. The yogurt should have drained down to about 2 cups, more or less.
6. If you are a purist, finely chop the scallions, parsley, white onion, and press the garlic; if not, coarsely chop them, throw them in the food processor, pulse until everything is finely chopped, scraping bowl down once, and transfer to a bowl.
7. At the Magic Lamp, everything but the mayo and seasonings, went through the meat grinder, which still left a little texture.
8. Combine the yogurt, cream cheese, mayonnaise, and blue cheese in a food processor, or whisk until well combined.
9. Crumble the Roquefort or additional blue cheese, add to the processor, and pulse a couple more times, or finely crumble, and whisk into the mixture.
10. Add seasonings, and pulse or whisk until incorporated.
11. Allow to set for at least 30 minutes to allow flavors to develop, taste, and adjust any or all seasonings to taste.
12. If possible, refrigerate overnight before using.
13. Note: If the dressing seems to need ‘something’ after setting, I often stir in a couple splashes of balsamic vinegar.
14. This is definitely not part of the original recipe.
15. Who had ever even heard of balsamic vinegar in the ‘60s?