Cheese Sauce - Vintage Recipe Thursday

Sorry I'm posting this so late this week, the day kind of ran away with me yesterday. My grandfather was in the hospital having a triple heart bypass, and I was hovering over the phone all day waiting for the update that - he is out of surgery, it all went well, and he's recovering now in ICU. Whew! We all breath a sign of relief, and continue with our regularly scheduled programming :)

I've posted Irma's Béçhamel Sauce in the past, and today I'm going to post the easiest cheese sauce from the same book. These are really easy to make up to add a lot of variety to your homemade lunches and dinners when you switch up the ingredients. Use different kinds of cheese, additional spices, etc... pasta and cheese shouldn't just be thought of as Kraft Dinner.

parmesan cheese sauce over bowties

This sauce pictured above (over my husband's bowtie pasta from yesterday's lunch) is made with butter, flour, milk, parmesan cheese from the edge of the block, salt, pepper and some parsley flakes for color - that's it! It looks a little bit like the Béçhamel, and you still start with a roux, but the taste is completely different and still very very yum.

Cheese Sauce I
about 2 cupfuls

Melt in a sauce pan:
2 tablespoons butter

Stir in until blended:
2 tablespoons flour

Stir in slowly:
1 1/2 cups milk (I only use one cup)

When the sauce is smooth and boiling, reduce the heat and add:
1 cup or less mild cheese, grated or diced*

Season it with:
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon paprika
a few grains cayenne (optional)
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard (optional)

Stir the sauce until the cheese is melted.

*dice processed cheese; grate other cheeses

don't forget to stop by Joy's to see the other great recipes posted on time yesterday, heh! <3>