Master this simple, yet delicious, sauce and you will become the king of sauces among friends. You can apply the same technique that you learn here to any other sauce you make.
Good consistency is one of the hardest things to achieve in a sauce. Flavor, on the other hand, is easy! Just add chicken stock or use the same pan you cooked your steak on and you will see. If you master making a roux, which is the base for this sauce, you will learn to control the consistency of your sauces like a true chef.
Ingredients
- 1 white onion thinly chopped
- 1 tbsp of all purpose flour
- 1 cup of milk
- 1 tbsps of butter
- 1/4 tbsp white pepper
- Salt to taste
- Pinch of ground nutmeg
Directions
First, the Roux
Place the butter and chopped onion in a pot and bring it up to medium-high heat. The onion makes it easier to avoid clumps of flour in the roux. Once you have mastered this technique, you can remove the onion and make the roux with just butter (or other fat) and flour.
Mix and spread the butter and onion as the butter melts. To ensure that the butter does not burn, remove from the heat as needed. Once the butter has melted, whisk in the flour. Remember to remove form the heat as needed, people always forget to do this.
Temporarily removing the pot from the stove allows you to control the amount of heat that is applied while you whisk. Once the flour has fully mixed in and there are no crumbs put the pot back on the stove and continue to whisk until the roux turns into a slightly yellow paste. If it turns brown, you’ve gone to far, it is burnt.
Turn the Roux into Béchamel
Add in the milk, salt and white pepper and whisk. Continue to whisk often until sauce thickens. When the sauce is creamy and it coats the back of a spoon, pour the sauce through a strainer into a bowl. Add a touch of nutmeg. Done.
Tip: If it gets a little too thick after add some more milk to get you back to desired consistency.
The béchamel is ready to use or serve. You can always wait for it cool down and then refrigerate this sauce and use it later.