Celery in cheese sauce with ham

Name: Celery in cheese sauce with ham
Yield: To Serve Four
Cuisine: United Kingdom
Ingredients: 25 g (1 oz) flour; 425 ml (¾ pint) milk; 50 g (2 oz) Cheddar, Cheshire or Leicester cheese; 50 g (2 oz) Cheddar, Cheshire or Leicester cheese; 2 heads of celery; 25 g (1 oz) butter; 3 tablespoons double cream; 2 tablespoons browned breadcrumbs - make them by toasting fresh breadcrumbs very slowly to a golden brown; 2 tablespoons browned breadcrumbs - make them by toasting fresh breadcrumbs very slowly to a golden brown; a little butter; 4 slices ham; salt, pepper, nutmeg; salt, pepper, nutmeg; salt, pepper, nutmeg

Preparation info

To Serve
Four

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

British Cooking

By Caroline Conran

Published 1978

About

Celery and cheese makes a very proper combination. This particular recipe makes a good first course for a dinner party since it can be prepared well beforehand and can then be put in the oven, 20 minutes before the meal starts, to heat through.

Ingredients

2 heads of celery
25 g (1 oz) butter
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Europe
United Kingdom
Starter
Dinner

Method

Trim away the celery leaves, including the inner ones, but keep heads whole. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and plunge in the celery heads; let them cook for about 15 minutes, until they are tender but not too soft. Drain carefully.

Meanwhile melt the butter in a smaller saucepan, stir in the flour and let it cook gently for a minute or two without burning. Now add the mi