White Sauce (Roux)
In a pan, melt, whisk, and cook:
- 3 Tablespoons Butter
- 3 Tablespoons Flour
- 1 cup Milk
- a pinch of Salt
Put the butter in first, and as it melts add the flour. Use whisk to make sure this is smooth and not lumpy. Before it gets too hard, add the milk and salt. Keep whisking. It will become smooth, hot, and thick.
This is a great sauce on it’s own, but you can use it as a base for other sauces as well:
Salmon sauce: add a can of salmon pieces and serve over toast.
Cheese sauce: add some grated cheese and mustard powder and serve with noodles.
Mushroom sauce: Instead of salt use beef broth powder. Fry some mushrooms and stir them in with the sauce after it is smooth.
Bacon and Chives: Stir some bacon crumbs and chopped chives into the finished sauce.
Gravy: instead of butter, use fat from the meat you’re cooking. Instead of milk use cold water and blend it with the flour ina shaker cup. Make the fat nice and hot and bubbly, then empty the shaker cup into the fat. This will thicken into a delicious gravy.
Onion, Parsley, Cayenne, Nutmeg, Bay, Paprika, Wine instead of milk, all create alternative options that each are tasty in their own way.