Those 24 cups of stock in my freezer were just eating away at me, so I decided my next set of lessons would be the making of sauces. The classic, creamy sauces like veloute and bechamel start out with a roux. A roux is an amalgam of melted butter and flour, whisked over medium heat. The longer it spends on the burner, the darker and more aromatic it becomes, but the less liquid it will absorb - something I didn’t know. So a really dark roux, used primarily in Cajun cooking, is there for the flavor, not to thicken the sauce.
The second, and very useful, thing I learned was that I had been making my roux too thick and pasty by using equal amounts of butter and flour, something I think most home cooks do (and what most recipes will tell you to do). If you use more butter your roux will have a smooth texture and will absorb the liquid much more easily. Pouring the warmed liquid slowly into the roux, stopping frequently to whisk it in, results in a beautiful, smooth sauce which requires very little simmering at the end of the process to be properly thick.
But now I had a problem - a saucepan full of lovely veloute sauce made with my slaved-over chicken stock. What to do with it? I had no chicken, so chicken pot pie was out of the question. After rummaging through my cupboards and refrigerator, all I came up with were some wilty vegetables and a can of corn kernels. Corn soup! Something Ken loves, so he ran to the Russian grocer to buy some interesting ham to add to the pot. It made a delicious lunch, and I had a good learning experience. Before I rush into doing the practice exercises that accompany each Rouxbe lesson, I need to check my supplies so that I’m cooking with a purpose.
Chicken with pan gravy coming up!
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