Quarantine Sauce Series: Bechamel, a Mother Sauce

Béchamel is a white sauce made from butter, flour and milk. It is one of the five "Mother Sauces" of French cuisine and it is the start to much greatness. The thick version is the base for soufflé, the medium for a variety of cheese sauces including the classic Mornay Sauce (Béchamel with gruyere cheese) and mustard sauce. 

Basic "Medium" Béchamel Recipe (Thick and Thin ratios below):

2 TBS butter

2 TBS flour

1 cup whole milk (scalded - just warm)

salt and pepper to taste

pinch of nutmeg

It will look a little like

mashed potatoes - keep

whisking and adding milk!

Scale this up depending on how much you need. My basic Mac and Cheese recipe calls for 3/4 cups butter and 3/4 cup flour. The important thing is that you have equal parts butter to flour.

You can also make a thick version which is the base for soufflé: 3TBS butter, 3TBS flour and 1 cup milk or thin 1 TBS butter and flour and 1 cup milk. This is the "medium" version.

Create a roux with the butter and flour by melting the butter and adding the flour - whisking it in until it looks kind of like a paste.

SLOWLY stir in the milk a little at a time. It will "seize up" like mashed potatoes at first - that's ok! Add a little more and whisk, then add more...keep whisking! Once all the milk is added, bring it to a boil and cook for 1-2 minutes to be sure you rid it of the raw flour taste.

It will smooth out as you

continue to slowly whisk

and add milk.

Add salt, pepper and nutmeg.

From here the sky is the limit. This is the beginning of so many sauces, not the least of which is cheese sauce.

To make my basic cheese sauce -

Add a splash of white wine and stir in the following:

• 1 cup cups coarsely grated sharp cheddar cheese (one block of Cabot Extra Sharp White Cheddar works well)
•  3/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
• 4-ounces cream cheese (room temp)
• A pinch of each - dry mustard and cayenne

Add the following to taste: 

• Nutmeg (just a pinch - or a few "grates")
• Squeeze of lemon
• Worcestershire to taste (a little goes a long way!) 
• Salt and pepper to taste

For a similar recipe with a slightly different approach check our my gourmet Mac and Cheese recipe.

Ready for the next step!

Some fun chalk art with our favorite six-year-old twins, 

and Niko (Fenway's boyfriend). We have three healthcare

workers in our building - including their mom - 

and we love them all. 

Super heroes, indeed!