Classic Cheese Log Recipe

Some of us who grew up eating 1970s cuisine would gladly bury its memory, along with Watergate, maxi coats and Abba.

With the exception of this Classic Cheese Log, below, I can’t think of many 70s family recipes that survived the era.

1970-79: The decade of culinary confusion

On one hand the decade gave us the Galloping Gourmet, ethnic foods and back-to-the-earth natural ingredients. On the other hand it stoked sales of Hamburger Helper, Cheese Whiz and Cool Whip.

1970s cookbooks illustrate the culinary schizophrenia: On my mother’s kitchen shelf, Diet for a Small Planet shared space uneasily with Mastering The Art of French Cooking and The I Hate to Cook Book.

But I think the decade’s crazy-quilt gastronomy is best represented by its Junior League cookbooks. These regionally-produced volumes provide thousands of original recipes from home cooks across the country.

Want to know what Ice Storm-era hostesses cooked for parties in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan? Curious about 70s ladies’ luncheons in Charlotte, North Carolina? Wonder what my mom served at her Soul on Ice reading group in El Cerrito, California? Junior League cookbooks give you the details—and the recipes.

Bet you a quarter, Classic Cheese Log—my version adapted from the Junior League California Heritage Cookbook—made appearances at all of these events.

Perfect on your holiday buffet

An indulgently rich spread, Classic Cheese Log is delicious on crackers, crostini or sliced baguette. The Log is made up of a cheddar core frosted with creamy, piquant blue cheese and rolled in chopped nuts.

Classic Cheese Log’s flavor varies considerably according to the nuts you choose: Try walnuts, pistachios, toasted almonds or pecans for distinctly different cheese-nut flavor combinations.

Wrapped in wax paper and stored in an airtight container, Classic Cheese Log makes a handy appetizer for drop-in guests. Just add crackers, pour some rosé and turn up the The Carpenters Christmas Portrait album.

Happy holidays!

Classic Cheese Log Recipe

For cheddar core:
½ pound sharp cheddar cheese, grated
6 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon butter, softened
1 tablespoon onion juice
1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
Dash of Tabasco Sauce or other hot sauce

For blue cheese frosting:
6 ounces cream cheese
4 ounces blue cheese—about ¾ cup crumbled
2 tablespoons heavy cream
½ teaspoon Tabasco Sauce

1-1½ cup chopped walnuts, pistachios, pecans or other nuts, raw or toasted

1. If you want to used toasted nuts as a coating, set oven to 350 degrees and spread chopped nuts evenly in the center of a cookie tin, being careful to push nuts away from the pan’s edge where they may burn. Toast for 8-12 minutes, turning nuts with a spatula after five minutes so they brown evenly. Remove from oven and cool.
2. To make onion juice, grate a peeled onion on grater’s finest grade. Pour off and measure juice.
3. With an electric mixer, blend in a large bowl the onion juice, cheddar cheese, 4 ounces cream cheese, butter, Worcestershire Sauce and dash of Tabasco Sauce. Mix until all ingredients stick together.
4. Scoop half of the mixture onto a sheet of wax paper. Using a rubber spatula—or your fingers—shape cheddar mixture into a 2” diameter log.
5. Roll log in wax paper and twist ends of paper to seal. Repeat to make second log. Chill logs until firm—about 30 minutes in refrigerator or 15 minutes in freezer.
6. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, blend 6 ounces cream cheese, crumbled blue cheese, heavy cream and ½ teaspoon Tabasco Sauce.
7. Remove cheddar log from fridge or freezer and unwrap it. Using a thin spatula, spread one-half of blue cheese mixture evenly over the log.
8. Roll the log in chopped nuts to coat evenly.
9. Re-wrap the cheese log in the wax paper. Repeat to coat second cheddar roll with blue cheese frosting and nuts.
10. Place logs in ziplock bag or tight container and chill until ready to serve. Cheese logs keep for a week or longer in fridge.

Makes two cheese logs; each serves 8.