Mornay and Cheese Sauces
Cooking Skills: Sauces 2
Chapter 2 · Mornay and Cheese Sauces
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The basics
A mornay sauce is a white sauce with cheese stirred in. The white sauce itself is in Cooking Skills: Sauces 1, chapter 2, and a plain cheese sauce is already one of its recipes; this chapter is about making cheese sauces better and more reliable. Cheese is mostly fat and protein. Too much heat makes the protein clump into strings and squeezes the fat out as grease. So the rule is simple: take the sauce off the heat first, and add the cheese a little at a time.
Choose the cheese for flavour and melting. A mature Cheddar has more flavour; Gruyère and Emmental melt smoothly and taste nutty; a small amount of Parmesan adds saltiness and depth. Pre-grated cheese is coated to stop sticking and can melt less well, so grate your own if you can. Mustard and nutmeg sharpen and warm the flavour.
The method
- Make a smooth white sauce and simmer it for 8 minutes so the flour is cooked.
- Take the pan off the heat and wait a minute, so the sauce is hot but no longer bubbling.
- Grate the cheese finely and stir it in a handful at a time, letting each melt before the next.
- Add mustard and nutmeg for flavour, and salt last because cheese is already salty.
- Never boil it after the cheese goes in. If you need to reheat it, do so gently.
| Cheese | Flavour | Melts | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mature Cheddar | Sharp and strong | Well, can be greasy | Cauliflower cheese, rarebit |
| Mild Cheddar | Gentle | Very well | Children's pasta, soft sauces |
| Gruyère or Emmental | Nutty, sweet | Very smoothly | Mornay, fondue, croque monsieur |
| Parmesan | Salty, savoury | Poorly alone | A little, mixed with other cheeses |
Allergens in cheese sauces: contains milk, gluten (flour) and often mustard. Cheese can contain traces of animal rennet, so check the label for vegetarians. Use a plant cheese and cornflour for a dairy-free, gluten-free version (it will melt differently).
Lumps: lumps are flour that met liquid too fast. Add the liquid a little at a time while whisking, and if lumps still form, whisk hard off the heat or strain the sauce through a sieve.
Try it
A mornay sauce
The classic cheese sauce. Using two cheeses gives flavour and smoothness. It is good over fish, ham, eggs, vegetables and pasta, and is the base for macaroni cheese and lasagne.
Ingredients (4 portions)
- 30 g butter
- 30 g plain flour
- 450 ml whole milk, warmed
- 60 g mature Cheddar, finely grated
- 30 g Gruyère, finely grated
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 pinch nutmeg
- 1 pinch white pepper
- Melt the butter, stir in the flour and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the milk a little at a time, whisking, and simmer for 8 minutes until it coats a spoon.
- Take the pan off the heat for 1 minute, then stir in the cheese a handful at a time until smooth.
- Stir in the mustard, nutmeg and pepper, taste, and add salt only if needed. Use straight away.
Allergens in cheese sauces: contains milk, gluten (flour) and often mustard. Cheese can contain traces of animal rennet, so check the label for vegetarians. Use a plant cheese and cornflour for a dairy-free, gluten-free version (it will melt differently).
A cauliflower cheese sauce
A sauce that goes in the oven needs to be a little thicker and a little more strongly flavoured, because the cauliflower releases water and dilutes it. Drain the cauliflower very well. Pre-cooking it for only 5 minutes keeps it from going soggy.
Ingredients (4 portions)
- 1 medium cauliflower, cut into florets
- 40 g butter
- 40 g plain flour
- 500 ml whole milk, warmed
- 100 g mature Cheddar, grated
- 1 tsp English mustard
- 2 tbsp Parmesan, grated
- 1 pinch nutmeg
- Boil the cauliflower for 5 minutes, drain very well and leave to steam dry in the colander. Heat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan, gas 6).
- Make the sauce with the butter, flour and milk, simmer for 8 minutes, then take it off the heat and stir in the Cheddar, mustard and nutmeg.
- Put the cauliflower in a baking dish, pour over the sauce, sprinkle with the Parmesan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden and bubbling.
Allergens in cheese sauces: contains milk, gluten (flour) and often mustard. Cheese can contain traces of animal rennet, so check the label for vegetarians. Use a plant cheese and cornflour for a dairy-free, gluten-free version (it will melt differently).
A Welsh rarebit sauce
Rarebit is cheese sauce taken to the extreme: a thick, mustardy paste spread on toast and grilled until bubbling. Traditionally it contains beer; here the Worcestershire sauce and mustard provide the depth, with no alcohol.
Ingredients (4 portions)
- 20 g butter
- 20 g plain flour
- 100 ml whole milk
- 200 g mature Cheddar, grated
- 1 tsp English mustard
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 egg yolk (optional, for richness)
- 4 slices of bread, toasted on one side
- Make a very thick sauce from the butter, flour and milk, simmering for 3 minutes. Take it off the heat and stir in the cheese, mustard and Worcestershire sauce until smooth. Beat in the egg yolk if using.
- Cool for 5 minutes, then spread thickly over the untoasted side of the bread, right to the edges.
- Grill under a medium-high heat for 3 to 4 minutes until golden and bubbling, watching it closely.
Allergens in cheese sauces: contains milk, gluten (flour) and often mustard. Cheese can contain traces of animal rennet, so check the label for vegetarians. Use a plant cheese and cornflour for a dairy-free, gluten-free version (it will melt differently).
Allergens: contains egg and fish (Worcestershire sauce).
An alcohol-free cheese fondue
Traditional fondue uses white wine, whose acidity helps keep the cheese smooth. Here, lemon juice and stock do the same job. Cornflour stops the fat from separating. Serve with cubes of bread, boiled new potatoes and crunchy vegetables.
Ingredients (4 portions)
- 1 garlic clove, halved
- 150 ml low-salt vegetable stock
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 200 g Gruyère, grated
- 200 g Emmental, grated
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- 1 pinch nutmeg
- 1 pinch white pepper
- Rub the inside of a saucepan with the cut garlic and discard it. Add the stock and lemon juice and warm over a low heat until it just steams.
- Toss the cheese with the cornflour. Add it a handful at a time, stirring in a figure of eight, and don't let it boil.
- When smooth and creamy after 10 minutes, add the nutmeg and pepper. Move to a fondue pot over a low flame and serve with dippers.
Allergens in cheese sauces: contains milk, gluten (flour) and often mustard. Cheese can contain traces of animal rennet, so check the label for vegetarians. Use a plant cheese and cornflour for a dairy-free, gluten-free version (it will melt differently).
Experiments
Cheese on or off the heat
Smooth and stringy.
- Divide a white sauce in two. Stir cheese into one off the heat and into the other while it is bubbling.
Look for: The off-heat sauce is smooth; the bubbling one turns stringy and greasy. This is the main rule of cheese sauces.
Grated fine or coarse
Melting speed.
- Stir finely grated cheese into one sauce and coarse shreds into another.
Look for: The fine cheese melts quickly and evenly; the coarse takes longer and needs more stirring. Finer is better.
Mature or mild cheese
Flavour.
- Make two small sauces, one with mature Cheddar and one with mild Cheddar.
Look for: The mature sauce has much more flavour and may be slightly greasier. Mixing a mature and a smooth cheese gives both.
Adding mustard
A small change.
- Taste a cheese sauce with and without a teaspoon of mustard.
Look for: The mustard sharpens and lifts the cheese without tasting of mustard. A small amount makes the sauce taste more cheesy.
Tasting notes
| What I tried | Method or amount | What I saw | What I thought | Will I do it again? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mornay sauce | ||||
| Cauliflower cheese sauce | ||||
| Welsh rarebit sauce | ||||
| Cheese fondue | ||||
| Cheese on or off the heat | ||||
| Grated fine or coarse | ||||
| Mature or mild cheese | ||||
| Adding mustard |
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Stringy sauce | Cheese added over heat, or sauce boiled | Take it off the heat; whisk in a splash of warm milk or a little lemon juice |
| Greasy, split sauce | Overheated or cheese too fatty | Off the heat, whisk in a spoonful of cornflour mixed with milk |
| Grainy sauce | Cheese not melted or too cold | Warm gently, stirring |
| Bland sauce | Cheese too mild | Add mustard, Parmesan or a pinch of nutmeg |
| Sauce too thick | Over-reduced or cooled | Whisk in warm milk |
| Watery cauliflower cheese | Cauliflower not drained | Drain and steam-dry well; make the sauce thicker |
Allergens in cheese sauces: contains milk, gluten (flour) and often mustard. Cheese can contain traces of animal rennet, so check the label for vegetarians. Use a plant cheese and cornflour for a dairy-free, gluten-free version (it will melt differently).
Keeping sauces: cool a sauce quickly in a shallow container within 1 to 2 hours, press cling film onto the surface to stop a skin forming, chill and use within about 2 days. Reheat until steaming hot, stirring. Milk and cream sauces can split when frozen, so freeze other sauces instead.
- I can make a smooth white sauce base.
- I know to take the sauce off the heat before adding cheese.
- I can choose cheeses that melt well.
- I can make a cheese sauce that survives baking.
- I can make a fondue without alcohol.