.:White Sauce
White Sauce is a common name (chiefly in the US and Britian) for the classic Béchamel Sauce, one of the "Mother Sauces" of French Cuisine. In French cooking, Béchamel Sauce is rarely used on its own; it is more often used as the base for derivitave sauces or as a binder for gratinees. Béchamel's American cousin, on the other hand, is frequently used as a finished product. White sauce is generally more highly seasoned than is Béchamel, but the procedure for making both is the same.
Recipes from the 19th century and earlier often call for slowly simmering white sauce, for an hour or more, with whole onions and spices, then straining the finished sauce. Today, it is more common to use dried/ground seasonings; there is little difference in the finished product.
Ingredients
· ¼ cup (4 Tablespoons) unsalted butter
· ¼ cup (60g) all-purpose flour
· 2 cups (480ml) whole milk
· ¾ tsp. onion salt
· ¼ tsp. ground white pepper
· 1 tsp. ground mustard seed
· pinch fresh-ground nutmeg
· 1 bay leaf
Procedure
1. Make a white roux: melt the butter in a sauce pan over medium heat until the foam subsides. Add the flour and whisk together, still over the heat, for 2-3 minutes. The flour should lose its raw smell, but should not brown.
2. Add the milk to the roux while whisking quickly but smoothly to create a smooth mixture.
3. Add the seasonings and cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently. Simmer the sauce until it lightly coats the back of a spoon.
4. Remove the bay leaf, taste and adjust for salt and pepper, and serve.
Notes
· The seasonings can be adjusted according to individual taste and the intended use: some dishes will require a more highly seasoned sauce, others a milder concoction.
· The flavor can also be altered by adding various herbs (parsley, celery leaves, thyme, etc.) along with the other seasonings. Generally additions should be strained from the sauce prior to use - straining would not apply, for instance, to traditional parsley sauce, typically served with fish, in which the green of the herb is an integral ingredient. Keep in mind that the sauce should be mildly flavored and that any additions should complement the finished dish, not overpower it.
· White sauce can be made ahead-of-time: remove from the heat and press a piece of plastic wrap onto the surface of the sauce to prevent it from forming a skin. Reheat over a low flame, stirring constantly, until it barely simmers.
· In the event that lumps have formed in your sauce, simply pour through a medium strainer before serving.
| Other Sauces to Try Parson's sauce
Chop lemon-peel very fine, with 2 or 3 pickled cucumbers, a bit of butter, salt, and coarse pepper, a little flour, with 2 spoonful of catsup, and stew it on the fire without boiling. Sailor's sauce
Chop a fowl's liver with a or 3 shallots, and a couple of truffles or mushrooms; simmer these in a spoonful of oil, 2 or 3 spoonful of gravy, a glass of wine, a little salt and coarse pepper, simmer it about half an hour, and skim it very well before using.
Nonpareil sauce
Take a slice of boiled ham, as much breast of roasted fowl, a pickled cucumber, a hard yolk of an egg, one anchovy, a little parsley, and a bend of shallot, chopped very fine; boil it a moment in good catsup, and use it for meat or fish.
| Roux:
Roux is a base sauce in international cuisines, originally French, composed of equal parts flour and fat (usually butter), useful for making sauces, and for thickening soups or gravies. It can be cooked to varying degrees (white roux, blonde roux or brown roux) depending upon the intended use, but you must at least cook away the raw flour taste. A darker roux (one that has been cooked longer) will also be thicker.
Ingredients
Equal parts flour and butter, e.g. 1 cup of each
Procedure
1. Melt the butter in a sauce pan over medium heat then combine flour.
2. Mix well and cook to desired consistency.
Oven-Made Roux
Some people find it easier to finish a roux in the oven so as not to burn it with direct heat.
Ingredients:
1. 3 cups peanut oil
2. 4½ cups flour
Procedure: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat the oil in a skillet for 10 minutes on medium-high. Stir constantly for 15 minutes until roux starts to brown. Place the skillet in the oven and cook for 1 hour stirring every 15-20 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 and cook for an additional stirring every 15-20 minutes until your roux reaches the desired doneness. The roux may be stored in the freezer in an airtight container indefinetely.
Notes, tips and variations
· Depending upon how you plan to use your roux, you may need to add the sauce's other ingredients before the roux is fully cooked.
· To use a roux, you add liquid to it, stirring it in as you go. If you add the roux to a liquid, you will get lumps. Once enough liquid has been added to the roux (you'll know), you can safely add it back into another liquid.
· A good roux will have a slight shine to it, and the texture of the flour won't be apparent through the butter.
· When making a dark roux, switching from butter to an oil with a high smoke point (such as soybean oil or Canola oil) will allow for a higher cooking temperature, decreasing cooking time. Keep in mind that changing the fat will affect the flavor of the roux
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