CwM: Basic White Sauce

 

This is a foundation recipe/technique.  It is the basis for cream soups and chowders, for cheese sauces, and for things like Shepherd's pie. 

You'll need about a third of a stick of butter (maybe 3-4 Tablespoons), some flour (maybe quarter cup at most), some milk (a cup for a cup of gravy; in the video I probably used about 2 cups).  To make gravy, you can use drippings for fat and broth from boiling giblets instead of the milk. 

Start by melting the butter in a saucepan.  Before it's brown, but while it's hot, slowly -- SLOWLY -- sprinkle in some flour.  Stir with a whisk.  Then add more sprinkles of flour, until you've added a couple tablespoons. Whisk.  Then add milk (or broth) slowly, whisking fast and furious.  Keep adding milk slowly, whisking until you have the texture you'd like.  

When I saw Nonie (my mother) making gravy, I'd see her add the flour to hot water in a separate bowl where she'd stir it rapidly or use a small whisk to get out all the clumpy parts. This technique I don't show in the video, but is one she thought was critical for verifying a silky-smooth gravy.

For cheese sauce, you'll want more milk -- maybe 2 cups -- and you'll add grated cheese.  For soup, you can add a quart or half gallon of broth or water -- combine with milk if you want a chowder.  This "butter/flour/liquid whisk over heat" technique is a thickener -- and bland.  You'll want to add salt and pepper. I usually like adding Thyme.  

Link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CVJ4oM-kl0&list=PLTvaGSU0l0SymHhhkJ5wEKy1oImIw5L8_&index=6&ab_channel=JeanMariner