Bechamel, ma belle...

Finally. After the epic battle with Hollandaise, I decided to try my hand at Bechamel. I'm so thankful that I started with one of the more difficult mother sauces first; Bechamel was a cakewalk in comparison. I got the roux to the right shade of caramel and whisked the milk in like a champ. Some kosher salt and a pinch of nutmeg later, velvety yum-yums. I let the kids taste the sauce on some torn pieces of wheat bread. The fact that they kept asking for more leads me to believe that I have succeeded in Sauce #2. But I couldn't stop there. Oh no, I had a plan for my sauce. Food number one on my top ten list of comfort foods is macaroni and cheese. This silken sauce was bound for greater things.

I boiled the whole wheat rotini and preheated the oven to the popular 375 degrees. While the pasta was percolating, I grated sharp cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese into the Bechamel. I took a metal bowl and mashed together softened butter, some of the grated cheeses and crumbled Ritz crackers for a crumb topping. After mixing sauce and pasta, and laying the blend into my 9 x 13 Pyrex dish, I slathered on the crumb topping. After twenty minutes in the oven, I placed the casserole dish on my stove and waited. I am thrilled with the results. Katie is on her second plate and Liam finished his plate without "enhanced vocal encouragement".

While I am sorry my foray into sauce #2 was not as dramatic or eventful as sauce #1, I have no apologies for the end result of either. I now have to choose which of the remaining three sauces to attempt next: veloute, espagnole or tomato. Life is good, no?