Bechamel or White Sauce

Being able to make a good sauce from scratch is most frightening for most people and it is so easy to grab a ready make sauce of the shelves of the Supermarket .

The truth is that the basic sauces, which are the base of endless varieties of sauces for countless recipes are easy and simple to make, as long as pays attention while doing them.

Nearly every sauce is based either on the brown Roux (Sauce) or the white Roux.

The other important factor in making a good sauce is the stock you use. Very few of us have neither the time nor the inclination to have a stock pot on the stove. There are very good commercial stock cubes, or stock granules, or even "stock pot" liquid stock available.  You have a great choice and you should use the ones you like best. I have always used the Knorr stock range. I tried other brands but my taste buds prefer the Knorr ones. But as the French say "Chacun à son goût ". So you use what you like best .

Ingredients

2 Tbsp of butter and 1 tbsp of oil, either sunflower or rapeseed, 

2 Tbsp of white flour ( unbleached, if you have it)

Approx 1/4 l water ( you can substitute half of this with milk our white wine depending on what you want to use the sauce for)

1 cube of chicken stock, or vegetable, or fish stoke, depending on what your dish is

Method

Put butter/oil in a heavy pain, heat slowly to melt the butter.

Add the flour , stirring continuously, the flour will bubble up, this is important as it means the flour is cooking.

Immediately add the liquid is a steady stream, stirring continuously

Add enough liquid to have a smooth creamy consistency.

Should you end up with lumps. Don't despair. 
Remove pan from heat and pour sauce through a sieve into another pan. You end up with a smooth sauce.

Add your seasoning

Cook for 3 to 4 minutes.

Once the Roux is cooked you can  add cheese and or cream. For fish use white wine

Note: The sauce with added cheese can be used for making a delicious Lasagne

Lemon cream sauce

Lemon Cream Sauce

Sauces can make or break a dish. When I was growing up I learned very quickly the importance of being able to make a good sauce from scratch.. Again there was this rivalry between the cooking tradition of my mother (Saxon) and my father (Prussian)! I think my father won that one. How to make the base of most white and dark sauces I will do in another blog.

The Lemon Cream sauce is quick to make and delicious with most fish, salmon,cod and  all crustaceons
[ This sauce originates in the Normandie where cream and butter are in abundance in cooking]

Cooking time: approx: 15 minutes

Ingredients

1/2 cup chicken stock
1 cup fresh cream
Grated zest of my lemon
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp fresh dill/ or 1 tsp dried dill
1 egg yolk
2 tsp butter/ flour balls

Cooking Instruction

1. Pour the chicken stock into a saucepan and add the cream

2. Slowly bring the liquid to boil, turn down to simmmer.

3. Add the zest and the lemon sauce and simmer until sauce thickens slightly

4. Add the butter/flour balls [work a tsp of flour into two dollops of butter] stirring until butter balls are dissolved. This will thicken the sauce

5. Beat  the egg yolk add a little of the liquid to the egg yolk, beating continuously while you are adding the liquid. Add to sauce stirring continuously. This will give the sauce a very velvety consistency.

6. Just before serving add the fresh dill. If you are using dried dill, add it at the same time as the butter balls to let the flavour develop.

Note 

If you find adding the egg yolk too fussy or difficult, then just leave it out. You still have a delicious tasting sauce

Note 2 The Butter balls are a quick way to thicken any soup. Due to the slow dissolving of the butter,  the flour is released slowly and your sauce does not get lumpy

Sauces

                                   Mushroom Sauce

Cooking time: 15 min                                              

Ingredients

125 g fresh button mushroom cut into slices
1 small onion diced
1 Tbsp flour
Rapeseed/Sunflower oil and a little butter for frying
1 beef stock cube (preferably Knorr)
Some Worcester Sauce
approx 1/2 l water

Cooking Instructions

1. Fry the mushrooms and the onions in the oil/butter until they start browning
2. Add the flour and brown , stirring continuously.
3. Add the water slowly stirring all the time
4. Add the stock cube and Worcester sauce an simmer for 10 min.

NOTE: leave out the mushrooms and you have a general sauce for any meat