Fun Fact: I was once informed that I say Béchamel like an American. I told them, 'Well I am an American, soo...'
Béchamel is made up of three ingredients, butter, flour, and milk in a 1:1:1 ratio. If you want 1 cup of sauce, use 1 tablespoon of butter, 1 tablespoon of flour, and 1 cup of milk. The butter is cooked with the flour to create a roux (pronounced roo) which acts as the thickening agent of the sauce. The butter binds to the flour so that when the liquid is added the fat doesn't separate, it also lightly cooks the flour so you don't have that awful raw flour taste.
Now for the part with pictures.
This recipe will yield 4 cups of sauce, but changing the amount id easy if you just follow the 1:1:1 ratio I explained above.
Step 1
4 Tablespoons Butter
4 Tablespoons or 1/4 of a cup All-purpose Flour
4 cups Whole or 2% milk (any lower than 2% and the sauce comes out a little thin, plus you're already using butter fat free milk isn't going to save you now)
Measure out your milk and let it sit out to warm a bit while you get everything ready.
In a large skillet heated over medium-low heat, melt the butter until it is foaming. Add flour and whisk to combine.
The flour mixture will be white at this point.
Let the flour mixture cook, whisking constantly, until it gets a slight tan color and begins to smell nutty, about 30-45 seconds.
Remove the pan from heat and let sit for about a minute. Adding cold liquid into a hot pan can lead to lumps unless you are really careful and know what you're doing. By letting the pan cool just a bit it becomes so much easier to mix in the milk.
Slowly pour in the milk while whisking constantly to get a smooth consistency. (It was almost impossible to get a picture of this cause no one was around to help out. I'll try to get one later and post it.) If you do happen to get some lumps, do not despair, simple pour your mixture into a blender or use an immersion blender to wiz it smooth.
Return pan to heat and bring mixture to a simmer.
Stirring constantly, allow to simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes. You will know it's ready when it coats the back of a spoon or rubber spatula. Like so-
Perfect! If you are not going to be adding cheese, then stir in 3/4 teaspoon salt and grind in some fresh pepper to taste. You have now successfully made Béchamel sauce. Take a bow!
You're probably wonder what you're supposed to do with it now. Excellent question. I have some excellent answers.
To create a cheese sauce, once the Béchamel is thickened, turn off the heat and stir in 2 cups of shredded cheese for 4 cups of sauce. Add one hand full of cheese at a time and stir until incorporated. Taste and add salt if needed, usually it's not because cheese is so salty, but sometimes a milder cheese needs a bit of salt. To keep warm, place in a small crock pot. Any cheese will work. Stronger cheeses such as blue cheese may not need as much to flavor the sauce so start with only 1 cup of cheese for 4 cups of sauce.
If you want to make a mock Alfredo sauce, cause real Alfredo is stupidly difficult to make, add 1 1/2 cups of shredded Parmesan to the Béchamel and pour over linguine noodles and serve. Then tell your guests how you spent hours perfecting this sauce. It's so delicious and creamy they'll believe you.
For a fancy Mac n Cheese, add 2 cups of shredded fancy cheese. My favorite mix is 1 cup of shredded Fontina or Gruyere (swiss cheeses) cheese and 1 cup of Parmesan. Pour the sauce over penne noodles and bake in the oven at 425 for 15 minutes or until the top is bubbly and spotty brown. This is my favorite way to use up the last of fancy cheeses after a fondue party. Other good mixes are a Swiss cheese, like Fontina, Gruyere, or Emmental and blue cheese (only use 1/2 a cup of blue cheese). Sharp cheddar and Brie go well together. Remove the rind from the Brie and cut it in to pieces.
To create a 'Cream of' sauce, saute 1 large, diced onion in a large skillet along with the main ingredient of the cream of. So if the recipe calls for cream of mushroom, add 1 cup of sliced mushrooms to the pan along with the onions. For cream of chicken, slice up 1 chicken breasts and cook with the onions.
Remove onion mixture from pan, placing in a bowl and set aside. Make the béchamel in the skillet. When the sauce is thickened add in the onion mixture and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper.
You can make a cream of mushroom or celery and pour it over baked chicken and rice for a yummy casserole.
You can use the sauce as is to pour over the top of lasagna to make Lasagna Bolognese. This lasagna is made with a meat sauce and no ricotta. For some reason, my kids don't like ricotta, so I make this lasagna instead. Béchamel sauce is poured over the top to create rich creamy finish to this dish. To make- After béchamel is made, mix in 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese. Add 3/4 cup béchamel sauce to 6 cups meat sauce. Layer meat sauce,3 no-boil noodles, meat sauce then 1/3 cup béchamel in a lasagna pan until 3/4 of the way full.
Pour remaining Béchamel sauce over the top and cover with foil.
Place lasagna in oven heated to 425 degrees. Bake for 30 minutes, or until bubbling. Remove foil and increase heat to 450. Bake for another 15 minutes, or until top is spotty brown. Cool for 15 minutes and serve.
Mmmm boy!
The possibilities are endless when it comes to Béchamel sauce. Hence, why it is a mother sauce. So go forth and make rich creamy dishes. And remember, be sure to make your guests think you slaved away. ;)
Julia
