Hi everyone, Jess here.
Oh, sweet steamy steamed broccoli- so steamy in fact, that it steamed up my camera lens. There are not to many ways to improve on a fresh farm broccoli, except, perhaps, to drape it in blanket of velvety smooth cheese sauce.
I find “roux” to be tricky, and tend to accidentally “break” my roux from time to time (this happens when things separate and get lumpy and greasy looking). It’s important to prep your ingredients ahead of time, because if you step away to help the kids with something, warm the milk, etc, you are at greater risk of breaking things… So definitely get things ready before you start, especially if roux making is a new thing to you.
I start with one part flour and 1 part melted butter (in this case, I used 1 tbsp of each). When the butter is melted, I add my flour, whisking it constantly. After combined and warmed (it should not be lumpy and the flour usually changes color slightly), I slooowly drizzle in about 1/2 cup of warmed milk while whisking (cold milk can also break the roux I’ve found). The sauce should remain smooth, so take it slow so it doesn’t get clumpy.
Next, I add in a heaping handful of cheese (maybe ¾ cup) and keep on stirring until melted, adding more cheese or milk to increase/decrease the thickness as desired.
That’s all there is to it! This is great on broccoli, macaroni, tomato, stuffed peppers, use your imagination! You can change up the cheese, play with the starting amounts, add herbs and spices, make it your own!