Mornay is a French classic sauce that can be used to accompany various fish dishes, especially salmon. However, for the holidays or any time, mornay sauce dresses such traditional recipes as macaroni and cheese, hot spinach dip, or broccoli casserole. Or, use it as a sauce for topping other entree options — such as chicken or steak. Plus, simply adding cooked, crumbled sausage to mornay results in a delicious dip.

Mornay
Yield 1/2 gallon
6 ounces unsalted butter
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 tablespoon shallots, minced
1/2 cup white wine
4 ounces all-purpose flour
1/2 gallon whole milk
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
4 ounces blue cheese
8 ounces parmesan cheese
8 ounces Swiss cheese

In a heavy sauce pot, melt butter and saute garlic and shallots until translucent. Deglaze with wine. Add flour and mix well; cook on medium heat until it smells like popcorn, about 5 to 7 minutes. Slowly whisk in milk to avoid lumps and then add nutmeg. Bring to a boil, turn off the heat, and whisk in cheese.