"sf" > wrote in message
...
> On Sun, 19 Aug 2012 09:30:51 +1000, "Farm1" >
> wrote:
>
>> "Steve Freides" > wrote in message
>>
>> > http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/a...ipe/index.html
>>
>> I dont' reallys see any need to use any cream in that recipe. I'd
>> replace
>> that 'cheese sauce' with a white sauce recipe to which I'd added some
>> cheese
>> and about a dessert spoon of brandy to save time, or, if I was really
>> going
>> to be fussy, I'd cook down the wine separately before making the bechamel
>> sauce.
>>
>> I also doubt you need so much cheese and certainly not so much cream to
>> get
>> reasonable facsimile of what the chef was seeking so tat your family
>> dont'
>> end up with gut problems from such a rich recipe.
>>
>> I believe there are white sauce recipes for those who are gluten
>> intolerant,
>> so it might be worth looking for such a recipe online.
>>
>> Good luck.
>>
>
> I find that if I want the same consistency, then I need to make a
> béchamel to use in place of heavy cream. Sometimes it matters,
> sometimes it doesn't. Since this recipe calls for wine, they're using
> heavy cream because it won't curdle like regular cream does when it
> comes into contact with wine - but the main thing they're doing with
> it is making a cheese sauce and skipping the steps of making béchamel
> first. I suppose there could be an argument against béchamel based on
> carb count or gluten intolerance, but I think they did it just for
> pure ease and shaving some time off the recipe.

Yep. But God knows why. It would take less time to make a bechamel or a
plain sauce thickened with cornflour (cornstarch) and drop a bit of booze
and some cheese into it than to do the reduction of the wine that is
specified in the recipe. Mind you, I suspect you and I could both cook a
bechamel in our sleep and make it as thick or thin and with an equivalent
flavour.