This is probably the weirdest thing I have made in over 8 years of trying the favourite recipes of movie stars. Very weird indeed. Did I eat it? Well, I tried it. I ate about half of one of these delightfully shaped cheese balls…
It reminded me of something my dad used to make when he retired, and started taking “Cooking For Men” classes. This was called “Violet’s Cheese Pate” after the lovely woman who taught the classes. But Violet’s pate was nicer than this… What was in it? Mum, are you reading this? Can you ask dad for me please?!
Joan’s Roqeufort Salad is made from Roquefort cheese, cream and gelatine. It’s a weird texture and a slightly weird colour (ever-so-slightly-green), but it actually tasted OK once I got over the slight body horror of the gelatine rubberyness. I’m not selling it to you am I? I forgot that the serving suggestion was to garnish with watercress or pimiento. I sprinkled some paprika on top instead. I love Roquefort, but more on Joan’s steak than in a rubbery ball…
I actually (by mistake) used twice as much water as Joan specified in her recipe which made the “salad” spreadable. I think it would be quite nice on crackers at a canapes party. But anyone who knows me will know that “quite nice” doesn’t mean much… I wish Yinzerella of Dinner is Served 1972 lived around the corner, I bet she would have snaffled this up… She loves gelatine based dishes.
It did make me laugh that I also tried to search for 1970s cheese ball snacks on google because the Roquefort Salad reminded me a little bit of the centre of some salty snacks I remember being around at Christmas time at my house in the 70s. They were little round footballs with a cheesy centre. On looking at the search results for this, it doesn’t surprise me that amongst them all is a photograph I recognise.
A party cheese ball I remember admiring when reading about it way back in November 2012. I was jealous that Yinzerella could get something called shrink wrapped port wine cheddar balls in Baltimore. I love the interwebs!
There is plenty of Joan’s salad left in the fridge, I made half the quantity in her recipe and I think if you were making this for a dinner party the full amount would serve around 12 people as a starter. Joan always did love a crowd for supper. She also loved a chafing dish for a dinner party…
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