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| Courtesy of Serious Eats |
I typically make it for macaroni and cheese. The best part
of this sauce is that you can add whatever kind of cheese you have on hand.
While it may be the usual choice, it doesn’t have to be cheddar. Feel free to
use anything from fontina to gouda to port salut. Hard or soft, any cheese will
do.
Other recipes will call for just melting the cheese in hot
milk. But I like to start out my cheese sauce as a béchamel. Melt butter in a
pan, add flour to create a roux, and deglaze with milk. Stir constantly to
create a good thickness. Add dry mustard, a dash of Tabasco, bay leaves and
salt and pepper to taste. Once those flavors blend you can add the cheese. I
just think it makes a better sauce—a little richer with a little more
substance.
Here’s my go-to recipe:
½ stick of salted butter
½ c. all purpose flour
5 c. milk
3 bay leaves
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground black pepper
¼ tsp. of Tabasco
5 c. shredded or cubed cheese
Melt butter and add flour to create roux. Pour in milk
slowly while stirring until all of it has been incorporated. Add the bay
leaves, mustard, salt and pepper, and Tabasco. Continue to stir until slightly
thickened. Remove bay leaves. Add cheese. Allow it to melt and incorporate
fully into sauce.
Enjoy!
