The Cheese Shop of Salem

View Original

Beer Cheese Sauce


Cheese sauce should go all over everything. I am aware that this is not a world shaking statement and everyone is probably like uh yeah, duh. But I made my first cheese sauce on Monday for a celebratory brunch and now I’m hooked. The brunch was in honor of last year’s winner of the Sunday Night Dinner League, one of the fantasy football league in which I participate. The prize for winning a season is choosing an ingredient for a multi-course meal my co-commissioner Mike and I cook. This year our winner, Lauren, chose beer as her ingredient. Beer and cheese is such a classic combination, that cheese was definitely going to make an appearance. In the fourth course, it was cheese sauce topping a pretzel waffle cone filled with a couple chorizo meatballs. Later that day, I poured it over a piece of toast. The next morning, I dumped it all over my breakfast sandwich. That night, I dipped carrots for a “healthy snack”. Finally, I just said screw it and ate it with a spoon. 

While I had never made a cheese sauce before, I knew what I wanted in the recipe – real cheese because I’ve got the good stuff in front of me every day, one that didn’t depend on the magical melting powers of Velveeta, and I wanted it to be rich and thick and not at all calorie or cholesterol conscious. I found just the right one in a recipe by Trisha Yearwood called Butter Burger with Beer Cheese Sauce and Bacon. Oof, certainly not calorie or cholesterol conscious, thus it was perfect! I did cut out some cream, but only because I wanted the cheese and beer flavors to be central. I used Kaltbach le Cremeux, a semi-firm cow’s milk cheese from Switzerland and one of our best melters. It basically dissolves in your mouth when you eat a slice, so I knew it would create a great cheese sauce texture. I also used Ford Farm Cheddar from England which is sweet, sharp, and as wonderful for cooking as it is just eating straight. For the beer, I used the flavorful but light-ish Cerveza from True North which added a nice yeasty quality and a brightness to the sauce. And la la la put in a few more things in and, BANG a new love was born. I will try not to make it too often since I don’t want my heart to stop, but I want it. On everything. Right friggin’ NOW!  

For the love of cheese and CHEESE SAUCE,

Kiri 

Let the games begin! (Kiri and her brother Ollie and beer cans for daeaaaays…)

P.S. - Here is the recipe I used. I cut out about ¾ cup cream and used the cheeses above. I also cooked the roux for longer because I like a nice toasty flavor on the flour. I makes about four cups which sounds like an unnecessary amount, but it was a fully necessary amount.