When asked ‘how to cook something?’ it’s often the simplest of things.
One of the first things I remember making officially from a book at 14 was a béchamel sauce. I can still recall thinking I hope I can do this and why would you want milk heated with an onion? However, I soon found out that it actually flavours the sauce.
As always, I say use great Scottish mature cheddar, Scottish butter and, of course, our very own milk.
Cheese sauce is the main ingredient for so many tea time favourites. It’s used in mac and cheese, it’s the sauce base for Lasagne, you can spread it cold on to old bread and bake for a hot cheesy toast (you can also whisk in an egg yolk and it will fluff up too), you can pour it over leftover potatoes and bake, the list goes on.
However, just learning to make a cheese sauce is a great step in the right direction, as it proved to be for me at 14. So start with the classic recipe and, if the thought of putting that amount of butter in your dinner mid week puts you off, then opt for the quick, healthier alternative. At least you will have the achievement of making your first classic, Scottish ingredients cheese sauce.
Good luck
Ok this is Classic Cheese sauce
40 grams of mature Scottish cheddar grated (you can use half parmesan if you wish)
20 grams of plain flour
20 grams of butter
250ml of milk
A pinch of cayenne pepper
Pinch of nutmeg
Salt and ground black pepper
1. Dice the butter and melt it in a non-stick saucepan over low heat.
2. Once it is melted, begin stirring in the flour.
3. When all the flour has been absorbed, continue stirring and cooking for a minute or two.
4. If you're making a white or light-coloured cheese sauce, keep the heat low enough so the roux does not brown, it will start to smell like a biscuit before it goes brown!
5. Next add the milk. If the roux is hot, the milk should be cool, but if the roux is cool, the milk should be hot. Combining the two ingredients at different temperatures ensures that they will heat up at a moderate rate, not too fast and not too slow, giving you a super smooth sauce.
6. Whisk the mixture until smooth and then add seasonings such as a bay leaf, a couple of cloves and a pinch of nutmeg if you wish. You can heat your milk with a studded onion, which is 1 small onion peeled, and fix a bayleaf to the skin with 2-3 cloves.
7. Allow the sauce to simmer for at least 20 minutes, until it has lost its "floury" taste, then, if you have put in the extra seasoning, strain it out now.
8. Remove the pan from the heat and gently blend in the cheese. If the cheese doesn't seem to be melting, return the pan to very low heat, but watch it carefully and remove as soon as the cheese is melted.
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