CLASSIC BÉCHAMEL
The list of things you can do with this silky white sauce is almost endless.
If there’s one sauce you should master at home, it’s béchamel. The list of things you can do with this silky white sauce is almost endless. There’s an art to making a good béchamel; a poor recipe can lead to a tasteless, thick paste that you could plaster a wall with. This recipe produces a smooth, all-purpose béchamel that can be put to a wide range of tasty applications. Use for vegetables, pasta bakes or as a base to make sauces, or spread it on top of a toasted sandwich (croque monsieur, anyone?).
This recipe features in our cookbook, French Cooking Academy: 100 Essential Recipes for the Home Cook
Makes 2 scant cups (450 ml) of sauce
INGREDIENTS
2 whole cloves
½ onion
1 oz (30 g) unsalted butter
1 oz (30 g) all-purpose flour
2 cups (500 ml) whole milk
1 bay leaf
1 sprig thyme
1 tsp salt
2 pinches of ground white pepper
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
MISE EN PLACE
Stick the cloves into the onion half.
METHOD
In a medium-sized saucepan, melt the butter over low heat, and then add the flour all at once. To make a roux, stir with a wooden spoon until the flour and butter combine to form a paste. Cook for 2 minutes, then immediately remove from the heat, setting aside to cool.
Meanwhile, in another medium-sized saucepan, combine the milk, clove-studded onion half, bay leaf, thyme, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Slowly bring to a light boil, stirring from time to time.
As soon as the milk is warm, strain half of it over the cold roux sitting in the other saucepan and use a whisk to fully blend with the roux before adding the rest of the milk. Bring the sauce to a boil over medium heat while stirring constantly. (Bringing it gradually to a boil is the key to a smooth sauce, so don’t be hasty.)
When the sauce starts to bubble, leave it over the heat for 2 minutes, stirring a little faster to prevent bits from sticking to the bottom. Taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking, then turn off the heat. Your béchamel should be velvety smooth and creamy.
Variation
To make a Mornay sauce, as soon as the béchamel is done, stir in 2 large egg yolks and ¼ cup (50 g) of grated Gruyère or Comté cheese.