Béchamel Sauce
Posted On 21 June 2019
This is the base for so many other sauces, good to have around.
Ingredients
- 1 pint heavy cream
- 1 pint water
- 4 oz. unsalted butter
- 4 oz. white flour (~2/3 cup)
- Salt, white pepper, nutmeg
Instructions
- Mix the water and cream in a stockpot and warm slowly, stirring occasionally to avoid a skin forming.
- Melt the butter in a 2 quart saucepan over low- to medium-low heat.
- Add the flour to the butter slowly, whisking constantly.
- Keep whisking until the roué loses most of its starchy scent and begins to smell toasty.
- Add the cream/water mixture a bit at a time, whisking to incorporate.
- When all the cream/water has been added, bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low, and let cook for 30-60 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- When it has lost its starchy taste, season with nutmeg, salt, and white pepper. (If using dried nutmeg, you may want to add this after incorporating all the cream/water to let that flavor come out more.)
- Be careful with the salt as it takes a bit for the salt to really flavor the sauce. If you find it too salty suddenly, peel a potato and cut in half. Add to the sauce and let it cook for a bit.
Notes
This is another one I learned with Ben and Jen at The Passionate Palate outside of Denver, Colorado. Great cooking school for amateurs. I “made” this twice in one night one time because I fucked it up the first time — burned the butter and flour by not whisking constantly and probably had the heat too high.