In the spirit of my month of side dishes I wanted to share my broccoli with cheese recipe. But really everyone knows how to steam broccoli, so the sauce is the true star of the show. The butter, cream cheese and cream combination in this grain free sauce is my base for just about every creamy sauce that I once used a flour rue for; alfredo, broccoli & cheese soup, nachos and more. I simply play around with my cheese options to create the flavor I want. When I was creating this recipe a few years ago, I wanted to keep things simple, something that I could remember without looking at my notes every time, just like the rues I had been making since high school. That is why the ratios are simple: 1 part butter: 1 part cream cheese: 1 part cream. Why a grain free sauce? When I first started playing around with the idea we had just switched over to grinding our own grain and I hadn't gotten the hang of sprouting it first or sifting it thoroughly enough to make my traditional cheese sauce taste like cheese instead of wheat. Then I realized how easy it was to make his grain free version, so I have never really gone back (unless I open the fridge to find we are randomly out of cream cheese). Often my cheese sauce is white because the cheddar I buy is usually white (and grass-fed when available), but I picked up a block of yellow cheese just for this occasion.
Grain Free Cheese Sauce
1/2 cup (4oz) grass-fed butter
1/2 cup (4oz) cream cheese (cut into chunks)
1/2 cup cream (+ more for desired consistency)
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (packed, about 4oz)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
1-2 drops hot sauce
Make sure all ingredients are prepped ahead of time (cheese shredded, cream ready to go, etc). Melt the butter in a sauce pan over medium heat, once the butter covers the surface of the pan add cream cheese and whisk. Continue whisking until the cream cheese is entirely melted. At this point the sauce will look kind of grainy or lumpy because the cream cheese and butter is not entirely integrated. Turn off the heat and slowly add the cream whisking it in as you add it. Now your sauce will look more like traditional sauce. Add the cheese, garlic, salt, and hot sauce. Whisk, allowing the cheese to melt. Once smooth check consistency, if it is where you want it to be serve and enjoy, if you want it a little thinner add a splash of cream and whisk. If you set your cheese sauce aside and come back to it after prepping another part of your meal, you sauce will have thickened, just add more cream one splash at a time. I like to start this sauce thick and thin it down, because unlike a flour rue, it is hard to thicken it back up if you have over thinned it. It really only takes 5 minutes from when you turn your burner on and when you are ready to douse your veggies (meat, chips, etc...) in cheese sauce. Makes approximately 2 1/2 cups.
