Easy Cheese Sauce

I have to overcook vegetables such as cauliflower, broccoli and carrots because my 90-year-old sister-in-law could otherwise not eat them. I prefer them cooked the way you get them in Chinese food. Unfortunately, just as when I was a kid, these overcooked vegetables (especially the first two) make me gag. I found, however, that by swamping them in cheese sauce I can stop this happening.

Ingredients:
1 cup of milk
1 tsp green herb stock (or 1/2 tsp salt)
2 TB flour
1 TB butter (optional; there is already a lot of fat in the cheese)
1/2 to 2/4 cup grated tasty cheddar cheese
1 or 2 good pinches of cayenne pepper. How much you need depends on how old your cayenne is; like most spices it loses flavour over time. But these days tasty cheese isn’t matured anywhere near enough and the cayenne helps make up for this by giving the sauce a bit of bite.

In a smallish saucepan, whisk flour into the milk, cayenne pepper and stock or salt until there are no lumps of flour. Add butter (if using) and, stirring all the time over a medium heat, bring the sauce to the boil. Turn down the heat and simmer, stirring all the time, for about 30 seconds, to make sure the flour is cooked. (I find this a lot easier than making the traditional roux.) Turn off heat and stir in cheese. Pour over cooked vegetables and serve.

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