Make Cheese Sauce
This creamy, white cheese sauce can add and enhance flavor to your favorite vegetables and dishes. It's easy, quick, and simple to make and only requires a couple ingredients.
- Makes: 3 cups of cheese sauce
Contents
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz (40 grams or 3 Tbsp.) of butter
- 1.5 oz (40 grams or 3 Tbsp.) of plain flour
- 1 pint (600 ml or 2 cups) of milk
- 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (optional)
- Salt and pepper for taste
- Fresh cloves (optional)
- Bay leaf (optional)
- 1/2 or 1 onion, diced (optional)
- 4 oz (115 grams or 1/2 cup) of shredded cheddar cheese or another cheese of your choice
- Lemon juice
Steps
- Cut the butter into small pieces, and place in a saucepan over low heat to melt.
- Whisk the flour in with the melted butter. Continue to whisk even after the flour has been incorporated to ensure that the floury taste is removed. Keep the heat low.
- Add cool milk to the saucepan. Whisk together slowly and continuously until the mixture breaks into a simmer.
- If the butter/flour mixture is hot, add cool milk; if the latter is cool, add hot milk. Mixing the ingredients together at different temperatures ensures that they'll heat at a moderate pace and develop the optimum texture.
- Turn the heat down and continue to whisk for 5-10 minutes. You will want to make a thick and smooth sauce.
- Season the sauce with nutmeg, salt and pepper. Optionally, you could also add the diced onion, fresh cloves, or a bay leaf, but make sure you strain out any seasonings before adding the cheese.
- Allow the sauce to simmer for another 10 minutes, stirring constantly. The more patient you are with the simmering and stirring process, the smoother your sauce will turn out to become.
- Place the shredded cheese in a separate container, and squeeze some lemon juice over it. An acidic ingredient such as wine or lemon juice ensures that the cheese doesn't become stringy.
- Let the cheese come to room temperature to facilitate the subsequent melting process.
- Add the shredded cheese to the pan. Mix thoroughly. Make sure the heat is at the lowest possible setting. You may also turn the heat off and let residual heat complete the melting process of the cheese.
- It's important that the cheese is not heated past what's necessary for melting, so err on the side of using less heat.
- Whisk constantly for 5 minutes until everything is thoroughly incorporated into a smooth sauce.
- Remove the pan from the heat and serve immediately.
Tips
- Starch (the flour) prevents the cheese from curdling. Cooking the flour first and whisking thoroughly for a few minutes gets rid of the floury taste.
- The key thing is to continuously whisk the mixture. This avoids the flour becoming lumpy and creates a smoother sauce.
- The sauce is exceptional when paired with freshly steamed vegetables, including broccoli and cauliflower.
- This recipe makes 20 fl oz (600 ml) of cheese sauce.
- If you use reduced fat cheese, make sure that you chop it even finer than you would normal cheese. This is because reduced fat cheese takes longer to melt and is tougher.
Warnings
- Not stirring the ingredients enough can result in a lumpy sauce. Continue whisking to mix the ingredients and smooth everything out.
- Overcooking the cheese will cause it to curdle and burn. Add the cheese at the last possible minute and only cook until it melts. Do not let the cheese become boiled.
- Cheese that has not been shredded, crumbled, or finely diced will take too long to melt in the saucepan.
Things You'll Need
- Whisk
- Saucepan
- Ladle
- Serving bowl
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Sources and Citations
- VideoJug - Original source of information, shared with permission
