Broccoli Cheese Casserole

Method

1. blanch3 min
   well-salted water, 2 minutes, drained HARD
   broccoli to bright green and barely tender, drained and pressed dry in a towel — two minutes and no more, because it cooks again in the oven; and the drying is load-bearing: broccoli is a sponge, and wet florets bleed water into the sauce until the casserole swims
2. whisk6 min
   medium, roux then warm milk
   flour into 3 tbsp melted butter a full minute, then warm milk streamed in + mustard — the standard white sauce, with the Dijon doing quiet work: it sharpens the cheddar without announcing itself, the difference between cheese sauce and cheese-adjacent sauce
3. season2 min
   off heat, cheese in handfuls
   cheese into the sauce OFF the flame, a handful at a time + salt + pepper — boiled cheddar splits into grease and grit; residual heat melts it into velvet, the same law as every cheese sauce in the catalog
4. mix2 min
   broccoli folded through, into a buttered dish
   florets folded gently through the sauce and spread in the dish — folded, not stirred to death: intact florets give the casserole its architecture, and the sauce finds its own way down
5. bake25 min
   375°F, crumbs tossed in the last butter, scattered over
   breadcrumbs tossed with the remaining melted butter, scattered edge to edge, baked until bubbling at the rim and deep gold on top — the buttered crumb is what the can-based versions crown with fried onions; this one earns its crunch honestly