Comfort Foods
Earlier and earlier every day, November sunsets signal the darkening time as the year closes in on itself and moves into slow gear. Time to eat foods that bring comfort--foods from our childhood that are familiar and make us feel snug. Many years ago I created a little mini-cooking course for our daughter Rose's friend, Ed, whose mother gave Rose voice lessons. We started with a chicken. I showed Ed how to debone a whole chicken and use the various parts. I showed him how to make chicken stock, the foundation. And the next step was making a Bechamel Sauce, a simple white sauce comprised of butter, flour, and milk. Like a simple black velvet dress will get you through your whole entire life because you can dress it up and down so effortlessly, making a Bechamel can carry you through many many fine dishes limited only by your imagination--and what ingredients you have on hand. In the Foods Lab, we made thin, medium and thick white sauces and illustrated their uses with recipes. Here's the lesson!
Cream Sauces One of the 5 lead sauces, and the most versatile, is the classic Béchamel Sauce, a medium white sauce. Cream sauces form the base for a variety of foods. The thickness and richness of a sauce is determined by the Fat/Starch ratio used in proportion to a given measure of liquid.
The Fat/Starch ration is 1:1:1 for a Thin Sauce, 2:2:1 for a Medium Sauce, and 4:4:1 for a Thick Sauce.
That means:
1 tablespoon butter, 1 tablespoon of flour, and one cup of milk for a thin sauce, suitable for a cream soup.
2 tablespoons butter, 2 tablespoons of flour, and one cup of milk for a medium sauce suitable for creamed vegetables, meats, eggs, or--best of all--macaroni and cheese.
4 tablespoons butter (that is 2 ounces, or 1/4 cup or half a stick, depending on how you like to think of it), 4 tablespoons flour (aka, 1/4 cup) and 1 cup of milk for a binding sauce to hold together some croquettes or be a base for a souffle.
Simple, isn't it?
Making a white sauce in a saute pan invites a spill!
1. Melt butter in small saucepan and whisk in the flour until it is well dispersed.
2. Heat milk in a liquid measure in the microwave until it is slightly warm.
3. Whisk in the warm milk, continue to whisk until the sauce is thick.
Cream of Anything Soup (Thin White Sauce)
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon minced onion
2 tablespoons flour
¾ cup cooked vegetable like spinach, broccoli, corn, celery or minced cooked mushroom or chicken
2 cups milk
½ teaspoon salt
1. Melt butter in a medium saucepan, add onion, and cook until onion is soft but not brown.
2. Blend in flour, salt, and pepper. Add approximately 1/4 cup milk and stir until mixture is smooth. Blend in remaining milk and stir over direct heat until the soup comes to a boil.
3. Add vegetable or chicken of your choice. Cover and allow to simmer for 10–15 minutes. Add extra milk if soup is too thick.
Macaroni and Cheese (Medium White Sauce)
½ pound elbow macaroni, cooked
2 cups medium white sauce:
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
¼ teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper •
1. Melt butter in skillet and whisk in flour
2. Whisk in warmed milk, continuing whisking until thick.
¼ teaspoon dry mustard
4 drops Tabasco sauce
½ pound cheddar cheese, grated
¼ cup breadcrumbs
Paprika for on top
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare one-quart casserole dish by spraying with cooking spray and set aside.
2. Make 2 cups of medium white sauce with the above ingredients and instructions. Flavor with the dry mustard and Tabasco.
3. In a large bowl, mix the drained macaroni with the grated cheese. Pour on the white sauce and combine gently with a rubber spatula.
4. Pour macaroni mixture into prepared pan, top with breadcrumbs, and sprinkle with paprika.
5. Bake at 350 F for about 20–30 minutes, or until hot and bubbling.
Tuna Croquettes (Thick White Sauce)
¼ cup butter
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons lemon juice
7 ounces tuna
¼ teaspoon salt, if desired
1 tablespoon minced onion
½ to 1 cup of breadcrumbs
Additional all-purpose flour (about 2 tablespoons)
1 egg, beaten
½ cup dry breadcrumbs
1 lemon, cut into wedges
Parsley
Neutral vegetable oil for sautéing
1. Prepare a thick cream sauce in a saucepan by whisking ¼ cup of flour into melted butter and gradually stirring in the milk. Bring sauce to a full boil and then remove from the heat.
2. Add salt, lemon juice, onion, and tuna. Add bread crumbs to the mixture until you are able to shape it with your hands.
3. Spread mixture in a shallow pan and refrigerate (if there is time) so it may quickly cool to room temperature.
4. Divide the mixture into approximately 6 equal portions with the #20 scoop and shape into patties.
5. Put flour, beaten egg, and breadcrumbs in 3 separate cake pans. Coat each patty in flour, then egg, and finally breadcrumbs.
6. Sauté patties in hot oil in electric skillet preheated to 365º F for 3–4 minutes or until medium brown in color.
7. Drain on absorbent paper. Serve while warm, garnished with parsley and lemon wedges.
Yum!
Once you are good at it, you can come up with your own recipes depending on what you have on hand. And if it is spring, you can create this masterpiece. Steamed new potatoes, sauteed ramps, and sauteed morels are bound together with a silky Bechamel (White Sauce.) You can do this!