Bechamel, basic white sauce, is one of those things I avoided trying myself. It sounded too fancy and fancy means difficult. However, I finally broke when I needed some for homemade Mac and cheese, because #1, that boxed stuff is for fish sticks only, and #2, I could not bring myself to spend the asking price for Velveeta, which isn't even cheese. It is a cheese-food-type product. No thanks.
Now, that said, cheese sauce made from bechamel is delicious, easy, relatively inexpensive to make, and you're gonna need it for a few recipes you'll find here on the blog. PERHAPS you may even need it this week for an amazing new recipe I whipped up...
You only need a few ingredients to make a white sauce, though you can get as fancy as you'd like and throw in some sauteed onion or any number of spices. I hear paprika and nutmeg are great additions.
BASIC BECHAMEL SAUCE
Ingredients
5 TBSP butter
1/4 c all purpose flour
5 c milk
Salt to taste
Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the flour and stir constantly until the two are combined. Slowly add the milk, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, until desired consistency is reached. Salt to taste.
BAM! You just made one of the four "mother" sauces in French cooking. It can be used as is. Kids love it on cooked veggies. However, in my humble opinion, it is best turned into a cheese sauce. Toss a cup or two (why not) of your favorite cheese in there while it's still hot and stir until the cheese is melted. Mmmm...
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