Ingredients:

5 tablespoons clarified butter
50 grams very lean veal, small dice (you could use ½ cup veal stock instead)
5 tablespoons flour
3 cups milk, brought to a boil before using
2 tablespoons onion, chopped
1 sprig thyme
¼ or ½ bay leaf
pinch of nutmeg
salt and white pepper

Instructions:

In a small frying pan, melt 1 tablespoon of the clarified butter and cook the veal slowly without allowing it to brown.

In a saucepan, add the remaining clarified butter and the flour. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon for 5 minutes to make a blond roux. Add the milk. Whisk until smooth. Then add the veal and remaining ingredients and simmer gently for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Strain through a cheesecloth.

If you aren’t using the sauce right away, dot a few bits of butter on the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Béchamel does not freeze well; it separates and thins.

Serve with fish, chicken, vegetables, eggs, or use it as a base for one of the following sauces. It’s nice served either hot or cold.

Crème, Mornay, and Soubise Sauce (White sauces derived from Béchamel)
Béchamel is a base for many classic sauces, including Crème, Mornay, and Soubise, which are compound sauces.

Crème

from Rogov's Ramblings

1 cup Béchamel sauce
½ cup heavy cream
salt and pepper
touch of lemon juice

Bring the Béchamel to a simmer and add the cream a tablespoonful at a time. Keep at a simmer. Continue adding the cream, stirring constantly until the sauce is at the consistency you want. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and a bit of lemon juice.

Mornay

I learned about Mornay sauce for the Gnocci à la Parisienne. Click here to watch a pro make Mornay sauce.

from Rogov's Ramblings

1 cup Béchamel sauce
¼ to ½ cup Gruyère cheese or mix of Gruyère and Parmesan, grated
salt and pepper
paprika
1 tablespoon butter

Bring the Béchamel to a simmer and remove from the heat. Stir in ¼ to ½ cup of coarsely grated Gruyère cheese or a mixture of Gruyère and finely grated Parmesan cheese. Season to taste with salt, pepper, nutmeg and paprika. Remove from the heat and then stir in 1 tablespoon of butter.

Soubise

from everything2.com

1 cup Béchamel sauce
3 tablespoons butter
2 sweet yellow onions (½ lb)
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
salt and pepper

In a medium, heavy saucepan, melt the butter over low heat and add the onions and garlic. Sweat the onions on low heat for about 15 minutes, until they are translucent (not darkened), stirring often.

Bring the Béchamel to a simmer and add the onion mixture. Simmer for about 15 minutes. Check the consistency of the sauce. If it is thin, simmer gently until it thickens slightly. If it is too thick, add a little veal stock or milk.

Use a food processor or blender to process the sauce a bit, making sure to leave a bit of texture. You can also try rubbing the mixture through a sieve, pressing on it with a wooden spoon.

Return the soubise to a saucepan and gently reheat. Taste for seasoning.

The original recipe calls for a nip (30 mL) of pastis, Pernod, Ricard, or something similar, calling it optional, but divine.

Tasting Notes
I used the Béchamel sauce on purple and green asparagus, and it was delicious! The subtle hint of nutmeg, thyme, and bay made this sauce a perfect pairing with the crunchy asparagus tips. I also made the Crème and Soubise but not the Mornay since I'd done that earlier on this blog. The Soubise with a nip of Ouzo (dusted off from a trip to Greece ages ago) was amazing. I could have eaten the Soubise all on its own. The Crème was not much different from the basic Béchamel, which is understandable. I could almost taste the macaroni in it. For dinner, I fried up some mushrooms and added the Crème sauce. Poured over chicken, it tasted amazing.

. . . . . . . . . .

Running total: $436.91 + $3.77 = $440.68

Butter used so far: 5 pounds, 13 tablespoons

More to Explore:

• Index of Recipes
• Visual Recipe Index

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons butter
¼ cup flour
4 cups brown stock
2 ounces bacon, diced
½ onion, diced
½ carrot, diced
1/8 cup tomato purée
1 Bouquet Garni
Salt and pepper

Instructions:

Heat the butter in a heavy saucepan. Add the bacon and sauté for 2-4 minutes. Add the onion and carrot and sauté until soft. Add the flour and cook gently until the mixture is a dark brown, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring the brown stock to a boil. Cool the vegetable mixture slightly and then whisk in ¾ of the stock. Bring to a boil, whisking until the mixture thickens.

Add the Bouquet Garni and tomato purée. Simmer gently uncovered for 3-4 hours. Skim and stir occasionally. Add the remaining stock gradually during cooking, skimming as you do.

When the sauce has reduced by half, strain. Season to taste.

Tip for checking if your mixture is reduced by half:
Use a ruler.
Stick it in the pot when all the liquid is in and note where the liquid comes to on the ruler. Then, mark on the ruler with a pen the halfway point. While it reduces, stick the ruler in to check to see if it's reached the half-way mark.

Recipe: Demi-Glace

Ingredients:

1 cup brown stock
1 cup Espagnole sauce
1 Bouquet Garni
salt and pepper

Instructions:

n a heavy stock pot, combine the Espagnole sauce, brown stock, and 

Bouquet Garni over medium-high heat until the mixture is reduced by half, about 1½ hours. Skim occasionally. Season with salt and pepper. Strain.

Tasting Notes
This is an involved process, but definitely worth it. It takes a day to make the stock, another half day to make the Espagnole sauce and the demi-glace. The sauce I made with this demi-glace was amazing. I sautéed some mushrooms, poured in a ladle-full of demi-glace and “easy” as that, I had a rich, velvety, delicious sauce that was out of this world.

. . . . . . . . . .

Running total: $434.84 + $2.07= $436.91

Butter used so far: 5 pounds, 5 tablespoons
. . . . . . . . . .

More to Explore:

• Index of Recipes
• Visual Recipe Index

For the chicken and stock:
1 4½ pound whole chicken
2 medium onions, each studded with a clove
about 2 carrots, chopped
1 Bouquet Garni
salt and pepper
water to cover

For the sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
¼ cup flour
2½ cups chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper

Instructions:

In a large soup pot, put the chicken, onions, carrots, and Bouquet Garni. Cover with water. Bring to a simmer and skim. Simmer for about 1½ hours. Remove the chicken and tent while you make the sauce.

For the sauce, melt the butter. Add the flour and cook for 1-2 minutes. Slowly stir in the stock and whisk until smooth. Simmer for about 15 minutes. Then, slowly add the cream, and bring to a simmer. Simmer for another 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Tasting Notes
This is a basic dish for supper. I had to add a lot of salt and pepper to make this dish flavorful. Poached chicken, as well, doesn’t have much flavor, but the stock it poaches in does. This makes the sauce critical. Next time, I would like to try it with mushrooms.

. . . . . . . . . .

Running total: $408.23 + $22.96 = $431.19

Butter used so far: 4 pounds, 32 tablespoons
. . . . . . . . . .

More to Explore:

• Index of Recipes
• Visual Recipe Index