how to make a basic cheese sauce

One of the first things my mom taught me how to cook was a basic cheese sauce. A good cheese sauce can turn ordinary broccoli into something good enough to make for a special occasion. It requires only a few ingredients and they are very basic things I always have on hand. I really don't measure my ingredients, but I tried to estimate about how much of each ingredient I use. This makes a very rich, cheesy sauce...the hot sauce is my secret ingredient...trust me, it is good!


ingredients:

about 1/4 cup butter
a couple of Tbsp of flour
about 2 cups of half and half or milk (I prefer half and half)
about 2 cups of shredded cheese (I use sharp cheddar)
pepper and hot sauce, to taste



In a sauce pan over medium heat, melt the butter...


When the butter is melted, add your flour...



whisk the flour into the butter and allow the flour to cook for a couple of minutes-it is important to cook off the "raw" taste of the flour...


Next, add your half and half and continue to whisk constantly. It will start to bubble..keep whisking...


and it will thicken up...once it has thickened...


add your shredded cheese...


and whisk it in as it melts...


into a yummy, creamy sauce!


season with black pepper and a few shakes of hot sauce...you will not believe how yummy the hot sauce makes it! And, don't worry about it making it too spicy...my kids love it!


This sauce is great on broccoli, as shown, but I also use this sauce on my baked mac and cheese and it is always a hit, as well!

Enjoy!