Monday, October 01, 2007

Beet Root In Cheese Sauce



The advantage to this dish is that the beets may be prepared well ahead of time. It is also delicious-even my beet-hating son managed a few mouthfuls.
You Will Need:
1 Large bunch of beets, greens and stems removed (use them for another dish)
2 cups milk
2 tablespoons flour
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese
pinch of dry mustard
Potato chips (optional)
To roast beetroot:
Place washed (but skins still on) beets in a large roasting pan. Cover and bake at 400 degrees F for about an hour (check after 45 minutes). Leave lid on and let cool for 30 minutes. Remove from pan and wipe skins off with a paper towel. Slice and use immediately, or chill and reserve for later.
For the Casserole:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease a flame-proof baking dish and layer-in the sliced beetroot. In a saucepan, combine milk, butter, flour, salt and pepper. Whisk over medium heat until it comes to a boil. Cook two minutes longer or until thickened. Stir in the cheese and mustard off of the heat.
Pour mixture over the beets. Top with crushed cheese-flavoured potato chips (I had the broken bits at the bottom of a bag of Cape Cod potato chips. Being the kettle-cooked variety of chip, they stood up well to the casserole treatment.
Bake 20 minutes, or until sauce begins to brown and puff. Serve hot.

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