Mother Sauce: Bechamel

This blog is going to be about "Mother Sauces". Mother sauces bring that touch of elegance to a dish that makes us crave eating away from home. Not only are these sauces great at their most basic form, but they can be transformed into numerous others! They inspire us foodies to be creative with their uses, yet are there to keep the classic meals alive. I won't bore you with their origin or who created them, you can look that up on your own time lol. Although their origins are worth looking up because some recipes came about from a total accident. :D



This blog will come in 5 parts so I can cover every Mother Sauce. If you take the time to make these yourself at home, your dishes will come out fantastic! People will know that you took the time to make your meal from scratch and they will thank you for it. I feel like in today's society nobody takes time to do anything home made any more. I hope this blog inspires you to just..... slow down! Let's begin!


I am going to start with the Bechamel Sauce (Beh-shuh-mehl)





Ingredients


Whole Milk           16 oz. 
Flour                      2 TBSP
Clarified Butter      2 TBSP
Salt                         TT (to taste)
White Pepper         TT  
Nutmeg                  TT
1/2 small Onion Piquet **** (See cooks note at the bottom of the blog)




Directions:


1.) Pour the milk into a large heavy bottomed pot. Gently add in the onion piquet and simmer on medium heat for 10 minutes.


2.) In another pot add in the clarified butter. Turn on the heat to medium-high and heat butter through. Once the butter is hot, whisk in the flour. Whisk constantly until this mixture becomes pasty in appearance and nutty smelling. Don't cook too long, you want it to stay pale. This mixture is called a "Blond Roux". 


3.) After the milk and piquet have simmered for 10 minutes remove the piquet. Gradually add the hot milk to the roux while whisking constantly. Try to get rid of any lumps. 


4.) Once you have incorporated all of the milk into the blond roux, simmer until thickened, whisk often. 


5.) Add in the salt, white pepper and nutmeg to your taste. Nutmeg is very powerful and you just want a hint of it in there. 


7.) Strain the sauce through a fine mesh seive or cheesecloth if you have it. Use immediately or cool in a large bowl over ice water. Place a piece of plastic wrap on the surface to prevent a skin from forming. 




This sauce is fantastic as is. You can add it to the top of a lasagna to give it that silky touch, and is the most common base for mac and cheese sauce! 


I found this image on google, but it comes from  http://healthyrecipes.wikia.com/wiki/B%C3%A9chamel_sauce


****Cook's Note: An onion piquet/pique is a halved onion studded with cloves and a bay leaf. 

I found this image on google but it comes from http://cornellgourmet.wordpress.com/2011/02/02/piquet/


Enjoy this sauce!