Our chefs, cooking at home, are specializing in preparing dishes with ingredients you just might have in your fridge and pantry -- and Chef Bo Byrne is no exception. Today he is preparing cheddar cheese sauce, which gets served - at the Harraseeket Inn in Freeport - as part of their Broad Arrow Tavern’s Coastal Cheddar Mac and Cheese (a menu favorite!)
Coastal Cheddar Cheese Sauce
Here is what you'll need:
1/4 cup butter
Half an onion
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup white wine
1 Quart heavy cream
24 ounces cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Over low heat, melt butter (make sure heat is low!) and add onion. Don't caramelize the onions, just let them 'sweat out'. Add flour (you are making a roux!). Take a few minutes to stir in flour. Add wine, it will bubble and boil out. The dough will be thick, almost looks like a biscuit dough. Add cream, half at at time. That will help to prevent lumps. Keep stirring. Take about six or seven minutes -- simmer, but don't boil. You don't want to boil the cream! Keep it simmering on low. Add cheddar cheese, and again keep stirring as cheese melts for about four or five minutes. Pour sauce over cooked pasta - add some butter toasted bread crumbs - and return to a warm oven for a few minutes to thoroughly heat. Or... you can add the sauce over roasted cauliflower (or vegetable of your choice), garnish with some fresh herbs. Or, make your own nachos! Drizzle sauce over taco chips, add queso and salsa. Be creative, and enjoy!!
Chef Bo Byrne is the Executive Chef at the Harraseeket Inn in Freeport, located just north of L.L.Bean in Freeport, and which offers dining in both the Broad Arrow Tavern and the Maine Harvest Room. For more information about the Inn, click here.