One of my favorite dishes to eat when I was growing up was mac and cheese. I would watch my mother make the creamy Mornay sauce (béchamel plus cheese) in the microwave. Whoever created microwave béchamel was a genius. My mother would add 1/4 cup of butter and 1/4 cup of flour in a bowl and microwave it to melt the butter. Then she would whisk in two cups of milk and microwave again. Finally, she would fold in 2 cups of grated cheddar cheese to the thickened béchamel sauce. The sauce was then tossed with a pound of cooked pasta and some diced ham. This was classic French sauce making Americanized and I loved every cheesy bite of that sauce in my mac and cheese.
I still love Mornay sauce to this day but, now I am more likely to use it to dress up some roasted cauliflower instead of pasta. I roast my cauliflower with olive oil, garlic and thyme. I also prefer a more complex taste and texture so I use a mixture of aged Gruyere and Teleggio cheese. The last thing that I do to add some more flavor is to broil the top of the dish. I guess I am getting older since I prefer this lighter version of my childhood favorite.
You can broil the dish in your oven or with one of these handheld torches. Personally, I find the torch to be a lot more fun!
Thanks for reading my post today. Do you have any favorite childhood dishes that you have modernized as you got older?
I look forward to engaging with you in the comments section.
Steve