Cheese sauce

Although I have a recipe under Basic White Sauce, I thought that as cheese sauce is so much used and loved, maybe it should have its own post.

I have two versions here: classic cheese sauce and vegan cheese sauce. Actually, it isn’t really a classic cheese sauce, because I suggest use cornflour instead of plain flour, because I don’t think most people can be bothered to make a roux, which involves very gently flying flour in butter and then gradually adding infused milk, stirring all the time, until the sauce is cooked. It takes quite a long time for white flour to alter its personality and you need to carry on stirring, or put the sauce under an incredibly low heat until you get your perfectly cooked white sauce. You can, of course, mix and match the recipes to suit your tastes.

If you have any choice, try to use a sharp, yellow cheese, such as (real) Cheddar, Double Gloucester or Red Leicester for a fuller flavour and a more attractive appearance. I am sure there are plenty of good vegan cheeses being made on this planet, but if they exist in New Zealand, they are unavailable outside the big cities. I therefore suggest nutritional yeast in the vegan version: the advantage of using gram flour, is that it makes the sauce a pretty pale yellow colour.

I say this serves two, but of course it depends what you’re doing with it: my assumption is that you are pouring it over something life stuffed pancakes. I make suggestions for using the recipe for lasagne in the variations.

Serves 2

Ingredients

2 tbsp cornflour

1 cup milk

1 cup grated cheese

a good shake of *Worcestershire Sauce OR 1 tsp Dijon mustard

salt and pepper

Method:

• Put the cornflour into a small saucepan and add about a quarter of the milk. Stir well until the mix is smooth. Add the rest of the milk.
• Put the pan over a moderate heat and start to cook, stirring constantly. If you leave it even for a moment, once it starts to thicken, it will form lumps that are just about impossible to get rid of.
• Reduce the heat, add the cheese, Worcestershire sauce or mustard and season with salt and pepper.

Use immediately.

Vegan cheese sauce

Ingredients

1 tbsp gram flour

1 cup plant milk/water

1 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 tsp Dijon mustard

salt and pepper

Method:

• Put the gram flour into a small saucepan and add about a quarter of the milk. Stir well until the mix is smooth. This will take some time and you may prefer to use a whisk. You don't want to start cooking until you've got rid of all the lumps. Add the rest of the milk.
• Put the pan over a moderate heat and start to cook, stirring constantly. As the sauce starts to thicken lower the heat and stir vigorously. It will start to form alarming lumps, but if you keep stirring they will disappear.
• When the sauce is smooth, reduce the heat again and add the nutritional yeast and mustard and season with salt and pepper.

Use immediately.

Notes:

• * I ought to mention that Worcestershire sauce, at least the original and peerless product made by Lea & Perrin's, contains a very small amount of anchovies. Considering that you merely shake a few drops into the sauce, the amount of anchovies must be about homoeopathic, but if you take your vegetarian principles seriously, I suppose you should avoid it. Sadly, I have found all the alternative brands to be significantly inferior.
• I find the gram flour is sufficiently creamy that I don't need to add plant milk. However, you may well prefer the taste.
• You can, of course, use gram flour in the first recipe, instead of cornflour.
• If you are trying for an elegant result, use white pepper instead of black, to avoid little black flecks in the sauce.
• If you have any fresh herbs, chop them and sprinkle over the top.
• To use the sauce in a flan or lasagne, I suggest making more and making it thicker. So double the amount of flour and use one and a half times the liquid.