So many cheese sauces are built on a flour-based roux - melted butter, flour and milk. My cheese sauce wipes that slate clean and goes back to basics: cheese and something to let it out.
If you're in, you'll need cauliflower, cheese, double cream (heavy cream for folks following from the wrong side of the Atlantic), English mustard, sea salt and black pepper.
Yes, English mustard. I simply can't see this working with other mustards although, if you're in a fix for English, I think I'd be bold enough to say that a chopped chilli would be fun.
Anyway ...
Talk a good sized cauliflower, sufficient in bulk for two people. Cut the florets off the stalk, reserve the stalk for soup or something and put the florets over some boiling water to steam. Sprinkle a little sea salt over to bring out the flavour of the cauliflower.
Grate some cheese. How much? Well, enough to cover the cauliflower. As a general figure, 300g ought to be plenty. Cheddar is excellent, mature perfect, but go with any hard cheese ... or even experiment with some soft cheeses. As an aside, blue cheese and spot of cream, melted, works lovely over purple sprouting broccoli.
In a saucepan pour in a little cream - 50ml is good to get that 300g of cheese started. In with the cheese and on a low heat just get it melting. The cheese will melt and that little cream will just let it out so it's not just melted cheese but a sauce. Stir in a half teaspoon of English mustard.
Look at the consistency once melted and add in a little more cream to just let it out to a running sauce - it should pour off a spoon.
We're done ...
Spoon out the cauliflower into a bowl and pour over the sauce, garnished with whatever herb you have kicking about and a grind of black pepper.
For a more sumptuous version, sprinkle more cheese over and place the bowls under the grill for maybe a minute, until the cheese has melted.
